World lost 87 per cent wetlands in 300 years

A study on land degradation release at the sixth plenary session of the intergovernmental platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in Colombia. It says that world lost 87 per cent wetlands over 300 years. The report states that rapid urban expansion and unsustainable management of croplands and grazing lands is the reason for this. "Avoiding, reducing reversing the problem and restoring degraded land is an urgent priority to protect the biodiversity and ecosystem services vital to all life on earth," says Luca Montarella a co-chair from Italy at the event. The estimated cost of lost biodiversity is more than 10 per cent of annual global gross product.

 The report says that the consumers those who are benefiting by exploiting the natural resources are the least affected by the effects of land degradation. For example, in case of mining metal, the people those who are extracting and the people around the area get more affected by the land degradation and the end users are the least affected people since they are in another region. If necessary steps are not taken, the study shows that by 2050, land degradation and climate change are likely to force on 50 to 700 million people.