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A vanishing world

Large scale habitat destruction – driven by the growing demands of consumerism and an increasing global population – is reducing the area left for nature. Forests are disappearing at an astonishing rate, natural grasslands are being converted for agriculture and our seas and water ways are becoming polluted.

Coupled with the predicted levels of climate change over the coming decades, we are likely to see even more enormous changes throughout the planet’s natural habitats – both in what they look like and where they occur.

Scientists now agree the planet has entered its sixth phase of mass extinction. The number of species listed as extinct or in danger of becoming extinct grows every year. We will not even hear the death knell for other species, which may be lost before they have ever been recorded or identified. A species is finely adapted to a specific habitat – take that away and it has no hope for survival.

The true cost of the destruction of natural habitats goes far beyond biodiversity loss. The human impacts can be catastrophic. Razing of hill forests dramatically increases the risk of flooding and landslides. Deforestation contributes an estimated 20% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions – a threat to us all. Mangrove clearing is leaving coastlines vulnerable, as shown by the devastating Asian tsunami in 2004. The list goes on and on.

The need for urgent action is growing. The world's threatened habitats and the species they support need protection, but they are not gaining it quickly enough through conventional routes, such as designation as national parks. Often the only way to safeguard land is to purchase it or secure it through other legally binding means. Intervention is necessary to secure the vital life support processes natural land provides: water regulation, carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling and so many more.

There is growing evidence that the ownership of land is a central issue in long term environmental management. While in emergencies it may be legitimate for foreigners to buy land in order to conserve it, it is actually more appropriate to find ways to secure long-term land tenure either by enabling local NGOs to hold land or by working with local communities to secure their land rights.

Helping people to protect their own land is the most effective and sustainable approach to conservation.

Find out how FFI is intervening to save the world's threatened wild spaces and species.