There are multiple threats to biodiversity:
- fragmentation of habitats;
- the invasive exotic species;
- overexploitation and overconsumption (such as overfishing, for example);
- pollution including pollution from fertilisers and pesticides;
- climate changes (FR/NL).
All of them are the result of human activity and have a significant impact on ecosystems. They provide products and services, known as ecosystem services, that are essential for our human activities, our economy, our well-being and the survival of our planet.
Protection at the highest level
Like climate change, biodiversity is the subject of various international conventions.
Various United Nations Conventions cover biodiversity. For example, the purpose of CITES is to regulate the trade in endangered animals and plants, in order to prevent them from becoming extinct.
In order to halt the loss of biodiversity within its territory, the European Union is implementing the 2020 European Biodiversity Strategy. The aim is to protect, assess and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2050.
For its part, Belgium has set out a national strategy that includes the measures that need to be implemented in the country.
The IPBES ("Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services" or see it as the IPCC of Biodiversity) presented an uncompromising picture in its latest international assessment. Biodiversity and ecosystem services are deteriorating at an ever faster rate around the world. Without radical economic, social, political and technological change, it will be impossible to keep our society on a sustainable path. The report therefore presents various scenarios based on the decisions taken, or a lack of decisions.