Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life, including humans, on Earth.

Without a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms, we cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we rely on to provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat. The wellbeing and the livelihoods of human societies are highly dependent on biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides.

Therefore, it is essential that these links and the consequences of biodiversity loss are understood in a holistic manner as the world faces various global challenges, including food insecurity, malnutrition, climate change, poverty and diseases.

Land and habitat degradation and desertification are serious issues in Pakistan and are among the main reasons for losses to agricultural productivity and biodiversity.

Causes for loss of biodiversity include increased anthropogenic pressures due to a rapidly growing population, expansion of the area under human habitation, and poverty. While conservation efforts have created some islands of success, vast areas of the country remain unmanaged, resulting in loss of biodiversity.

Habitat degradation and fragmentation in all biomes pose a threat to biodiversity to an extent that only a few corridors remain connected to the network of protected areas. Thus, many species are confined to isolated small populations, while habitat loss and the overexploitation of selected species for trade, food, and sport have exacerbated the situation.

Around 80 per cent of Pakistan`s land area is arid and semi-arid, 12pc dry and sub-humid, and 8pc humid.

Agricultural lands occupy nearly 35pc of the total area,while a little over 4pc of the total area comprises forested lands. Most of the rural population relies on fragile rain-fedlands prone to desertification, degradation, drought, flood and severe climate change impacts.

Studies have revealed that water and wind erosion, depletion of soil fertility, deforestation, unsustainable livestock grazing, and waterlogging are the major causes of land degradation in Pakistan. The situation is further aggravated by water scarcity, frequent droughts, and the lack of land-use plans.

It is estimated that waterlogging affects 11 million hectares across the country, while another 5m hectares are affected by salinity and increased sodium content.

Unsustainable land use is a major cause of land degradation and biodiversity loss and thus demands concerted efforts for systematic land-use planning.

Some practices contributing towards land degradation and desertification include exploring new land and employing unsustainable agricultural practices, especially within the monsoon belt. It accelerates water erosion in the uplands with negative impacts downstream.

The conversion of floodplains to agricultural fields has not only contributed to the loss of valuable wetland habitats but has also exacerbated the damage caused by floods.

Semi-arid lands are subjected to heavy soil erosion, primarily due to anthropogenic factors such as faulty cropping practices, overgrazing, and deforestation, and natural factors, including wind and other causes of erosion.

Meanwhile, irrigated areas in Pakistan are infested with the twin menace of waterlogging and salinity.

On the arid Balochistan plateau, water in geological formations is being heavily mined for agriculture. The arid coastal lands and mangrove forests are also underincreasing environmental stress because of reduced freshwater flow and pollution caused by sewage discharge and industrial effluents.

The fate of natural ecosystems depends, to a large extent, on a wide range of national policies and programmes for economic development or the lack of policies and plans to advance environmental objectives. This is particularly true for the development of roads, urbanisation, and industrial development in coastal areas and near inland waters, as well as the diversion of river water for agriculture and the development of water storage dams.

Therefore, incorporation of biodiversity values into national accounting and reporting systems is necessary to limit unintended negative consequences of policy decisions on biodiversity.

Pakistan is among the 150 countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and ratified it in 1994. The Biodiversity Action Plan of Pakistan was approved by the Pakistan Environment Protection Council in 2000 as a principal instrument for implementing the Convention at the national level (CBD, Article 6) and making the protection of biodiversity in policies an integral part of country planning.

In December 2022, the world came together and agreed on a global plan to transform our relationship with nature. The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also known as the Biodiversity Plan, sets goals and concrete measures to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2050. • The author is a development professional with a focus on climate change and the author of `Earthly Matters`