UBC Faculty Research and Publications

The challenge of feeding the world while conserving half the planet Mehrabi, Zia; Ellis, Erle C.; Ramankutty, Navin

Abstract

Amidst widespread concerns about biodiversity loss, a single clear conservation message is engaging leading conservationists: the proposal to give half the surface of the Earth back to nature. Depending on the landscape conservation strategy, we find that globally 15-31% of cropland, 45-86% of pasture land, 22-24% of non-food calories, and 3-29% of food calories from crops could be lost if half of Earth’s terrestrial ecoregions were given back to nature.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International