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Vital
statistics
- Species have been
disappearing at 50-100 times the
natural rate, and
this is predicted to rise dramatically.
- Based on current trends,
an estimated 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species – including
one in eight
of the world’s bird species – face extinction.
- About 30 per cent
of the main farm animal breeds are currently at high
risk of extinction.
- Some 65 million hectares
of forest were lost
in the developing world between 1990 and 1995 because of over-harvesting.
- Plant-based
medicines provide
more than 3 billion people with their primary health care.
- Fish catches have
increased nearly fivefold during the last half-century, but
almost 70 per cent of ocean fisheries
are either fully exploited or over-fished.
- More than half the
world’s coral reefs are currently
at risk.
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