Status: 08.07.2022 4:18 p.m
Fish and other wild animals, but also wood and herbs are essential for the food security of billions of people. But the exploitation and illegal trade in wild species has reached threatening proportions.
Billions of people depend on the use of wild plants, fish and other animals. According to a report by the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES) on the sustainable use of wild algae, animal, fungal and plant species, the exploitation of the seas and soil and the associated extinction of species are increasingly endangering these vital natural resources .
‘Wild species are extremely important for food safety,’ stressed Jean-Marc Fromentin, one of the report’s co-authors. Around 50,000 wild species would be used, for example by catching fish, harvesting fruit, felling wood or catching other animals. “City dwellers in rich countries are hardly aware of this, but wild plants are used for things like medicines and cosmetics,” Fromentin said. Many edible fish are wild fish, and much furniture is made of wood that is not grown specifically for it.
Dependence greater in poorer people
The dependence on wild species is even higher among poorer people, wild species are an important source of income for millions of people. Wild tree species accounted for two-thirds of the global roundwood industry. Around 2.4 billion people use wood to prepare their meals.
The often illegal trade in wild plants, algae and fungi is a billion dollar industry. Illegal trade in wild species generates the third highest revenue in the world, after human and drug trafficking. And all of this leads to exploitation: In the area of fishing, for example, around 34 percent of wild marine fish stocks are estimated to be overfished, and 66 percent are caught in a biologically sustainable manner.
But there are significant differences: countries with stable fisheries management now have more abundant stocks. In countries with little management in the field, the status of the stocks is often poorly known. Many small fish companies are not or only slightly sustainable, especially in Africa for inland and marine fisheries and in Asia, Latin America and Europe for coastal fisheries.
Learning from the indigenous people
The organization has repeatedly pointed out that one million species are threatened, most of them through human exploitation. In order to improve species protection, the fight against illegal fishing must be stepped up first and foremost. In addition, the use of forests must be better regulated by certificates. Indigenous peoples have often developed good rules to protect species, Fromentin said. These included respect for nature and the establishment of sacred zones that corresponded to protected areas.
The IPBES report is likely to influence debates at the next major wildlife conservation conference in Montréal in December. A framework for species protection by 2050 is to be defined there.