Fact Sheet
A National Strategy for the Biodiversity Crisis Fact Sheet
November 30, 2021
Issue Area
Biodiversity
Overview
One million species are facing extinction according to the 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report, due to habitat destruction, overexploitation of wildlife, climate change, the introduction of invasive species, and pollution. The loss of biodiversity threatens human, environmental, and wildlife health by reducing ecosystem services such as zoonotic disease buffering, water filtration, pollination, soil replenishment, provisioning of game species, and recreational opportunities. Biodiversity loss also disproportionately affects people of color, low-income, and tribal communities who have been systematically targeted with harmful environmental policies and excluded from conservation efforts.
Key Facts
1 million species are threatened with extinction while 75% of all land and 66% of aquatic environments are being severely degraded.
Populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles have declined by an average of 68% with the US alone losing 3 billion birds since 1970.
The five main drivers of biodiversity loss are habitat destruction, overexploitation of wildlife, climate change, the introduction of invasive species, and pollution.
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