Global and regional health and food security under strict conservation scenarios

Henry, R.C., Arneth, A., Jung, M., Rabin, S.S., Rounsevell, M.D., Warren, F., & Alexander, P. (2022). Global and regional health and food security under strict conservation scenarios. Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-021-00844-x.

[thumbnail of Henry_et_al_2021_tracked_changes.pdf]
Preview
Text
Henry_et_al_2021_tracked_changes.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (409kB) | Preview

Abstract

Global biodiversity is rapidly declining, and goals to halt biodiversity loss, such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, have not been achieved. To avoid further biodiversity loss, area-based protection will form part of new biodiversity targets. We use a state-of-the-art global land-use model, the Land System Modular Model, to explore global and regional human health and food security outcomes under strictly enforced 30% and 50% land protection scenarios. We find protection scenarios cause additional human mortality due to diet- and weight-related changes. Low-income regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa experience the highest levels of underweight-related mortality, causing an additional 200,000 deaths related to malnutrition in these regions alone. High-income regions, by contrast, are less affected by protection measures. Our results highlight that radical measures to protect areas of biodiversity value may jeopardize food security and human health in the most vulnerable regions of the world.

Item Type: Article
Research Programs: Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR)
Biodiversity and Natural Resources (BNR) > Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation (BEC)
Depositing User: Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited: 04 Feb 2022 08:26
Last Modified: 03 Aug 2022 03:00
URI: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/17788

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item