2020 UN FAO State of the World’s Forests Report: Forests, Biodiversity and People

The 2020 UN FAO has released the State of the World’s Forests Report: Forests, Biodiversity and People. As the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011–2020 comes to a close and countries prepare to adopt a post-2020 global biodiversity framework, this edition of the State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) takes the opportunity to examine the contributions of forests, and of the people who use and manage them, to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

 

The key points made in the Report are the following:

·      Forests harbour most of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world’s biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests.

·      Forests cover 31% of the global land area but are not equally distributed around the globe.

·      Deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

·      Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation and forest fragmentation and the associated loss of forest biodiversity.

·      The net loss of forest area has decreased substantially since 1990, but the world is not on track to meet the target of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests to increase forest area by 3% by 2030.

·      The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use.

·      Progress on preventing the extinction of known threatened species and improving their conservation status has been slow.

·      All people depend upon forests and their biodiversity, some more than others. Feeding humanity and conserving and sustainably using ecosystems are complementary and closely interdependent goals.

·      Human health and well-being are closely associated with forests.

·      Solutions that balance conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity are critical – and possible.

·      Actions to combat deforestation and illegal logging have gathered pace over the past decade – as have international agreements and results-based payments.

·      Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 (to protect at least 17% of terrestrial area by 2020) has been exceeded for forest ecosystems as a whole. However, protected areas alone are not sufficient to conserve biodiversity.

·      Aichi Biodiversity Target 7 (by 2020, areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation) has not been met for forests, but the management of the world’s forests is improving.

·      Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

·      Ensuring positive outcomes for both biodiversity and people requires a careful balance between conservation goals and demands for resources that support livelihoods.

·      We need to transform our food systems to halt deforestation and the loss of biodiversity.

·      Large-scale forest restoration is needed to meet the SDGs and to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.

·      We must build on this momentum to catalyse bold actions to prevent, halt and reverse the loss of forests and their biodiversity, for the benefit of current and future generations.

Desert locusts attack India and other countries

India and several countries are now experiencing locust attacks that could destroy crops over huge areas.

 

What are locusts and what harm can they do?

Locusts are a group of short-horned grasshoppers that multiply in numbers as they migrate long distances in destructive swarms (up to 150 km in one day). The swarms devour leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, bark and growing points, and also destroy plants by their sheer weight as they descend on them in massive numbers.

 

Four species of locusts are found in India: Desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), Migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), Bombay Locust (Nomadacris succincta) and Tree locust (Anacridium sp.). Of these, the desert locust is regarded as the most destructive pest in India as well as internationally, with a small swarm covering one sq km being able to consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.

 

Current locust attack in India

The Locust Warning Organization (LWO) in Jodhpur monitors and tackles periodic outbreaks of locusts. There were 13 locust upsurges from 1964 to 1997, and after 2010 there was “no large scale breeding” reported. Once a significant outbreak starts, it lasts for about two years, and then there is a quietus for about eight years. LWO officials say that the current swarm building up is potentially the “worst in decades”.

 

A desert locust swarm in Rajasthan, Gujarat and even parts of Madhya Pradesh threatens to amplify into an agrarian disaster. Punjab is fearing a locust attack in southern parts of the state as locust hoppers have been sighted in a couple of villages in three districts bordering Rajasthan.

 

In January 2020, swarms of locusts from Rajasthan and Pakistan invaded the farms in North Gujarat and caused massive loss to standing crops like cumin, mustard, wheat and castor. Over 25,000 ha of fields got affected by the locust menace. The state government announced a relief package of Rs 31.45 crore which will cover over 11,000 farmers in Banaskantha and Patan districts.

 

Locust hotspots

 

The UN FAO has currently identified three hotspots of threatening locust activity, where the situation has been called “extremely alarming” — the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea area, and southwest Asia. Pakistan and Somalia have declared locust emergencies. During the past few weeks, major locust attacks have been observed in several countries in western and southern Asia and in eastern Africa.

 

The Horn of Africa has been called the worst-affected area, where the FAO has said there is “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods”. Locust swarms from Ethiopia and Somalia have travelled south to Kenya and 14 other countries in the continent. Ethiopia’s Rift Valley has also been hit by the pest. The outbreak is the worst to strike Ethiopia and Somalia in 25 years, and the worst infestation in Kenya in the past 70 years. Without international help, the FAO has said that locust numbers across the region could grow 500 times by June 2020.

 

In the Red Sea area, locusts have struck in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen. The swarms are presumed to have arrived here from the Indo-Pakistan border area. In southwest Asia, locusts swarms have caused damage in Iran, India, and Pakistan.

 

Impact of climate change and corona virus

Some meteorologists suggest that the breeding locusts which threaten farming are an indirect fallout of the warming Indian Ocean. Last year, there were fears that the monsoon may fall short because of an El Niño, or warming of the Equatorial Pacific. However there was an extreme flip. By July it was evident that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or relatively higher temperature in the western Indian Ocean, was in the works. This led to record-breaking rainfall in India — then a cause for cheer — as well as in eastern Africa. But moist African deserts precipitated locust breeding and favourable rain-bearing winds aided their transport towards India.

 

On the other hand, coronavirus quarantines meant that routine coordination activities involving India, Pakistan and Afghanistan regarding spraying pesticides were halted. While it is some comfort that there is now limited standing crop in India, forecasts are for good rains in Rajasthan, and, paradoxically, conducive conditions for locust breeding during the sowing season.

 

A less highlighted aspect of global warming is that it may link disparate disasters — floods, pandemics and pestilence — amplifying the potency of each. Improved science and technology is only making it clearer that man’s follies transcend borders.

Sources: Reports in The Hindu and Indian Express