For many years, the loss of biodiversity has been a worldwide concern. In the early 1990s, the international community signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Since then, including the signing of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022, a landmark deal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss globally, reports continue to highlight species and ecosystems in decline.
Last week, new evidence further exposed the scale and severity of the biodiversity crisis. With growing pressure to prioritize and accelerate resource extraction over biodiversity protection in response to U.S. trade policies, the need to stay committed to conservation has never been clearer.
This exhaustive analysis of 2,000 studies, encompassing 100,000 sites across every continent, examined human impacts on biodiversity. Focusing on five key drivers, the analysis revealed that habitat change and pollution exert the greatest negative impacts. These were followed by resource exploitation, climate change, and invasive species. Collectively, these drivers are causing devastating effects across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
While it was anticipated that human activity would affect species numbers, the report unexpectedly showed that community composition is also altered. This means that the makeup of ecological communities is changed by human activity, potentially leading to declines in ecosystem function. For example, losing species that supply nitrogen to soil or protect soil from erosion might trigger a decline in ecosystem health, or even a collapse.
Though the findings are stunning in their scope, they also offer a reason for hope; if human activity is driving biodiversity loss, it also holds the key to recovery! We have the direct power to stop habitat destruction and pollution, while we work to address more complex drivers like climate change and invasive species. The power to act is in our hands. We need only make the choice to stop polluting and halt habitat destruction.
Why does biodiversity loss matter to you and me? As ecosystems shift and species disappear, we lose the very pollinators, decomposers, and wildlife that sustain our food, safety, as well as threaten cultural heritage. Here are a few examples:
Here in B.C., a 2025 study examining the atmospheric river and landslides of fall 2021 found that logging activity and wildfires had impacted where some of the landslides occurred. Nearly half the landslides were linked to human activities that weakened slopes by causing bank erosion and lateral instability.
The loss of salmon in B.C. has been devastating to First Nations and coastal communities. To date, 142 B.C. salmon stocks have gone extinct and another 620 are at high risk of extinction due to habitat loss. In the Lower Fraser River, up to 85 per cent of historical salmon habitat has disappeared due to human activities. The cultural and economic losses continue to be profound.
On a global scale the production of coffee and cocoa (the source of chocolate) are at risk due to pollinator decline. A 2023 study found that climate change and land use pressures have led to significantly reduced pollinator populations, leading to lower crop yields. As a result, the cost and availability of these everyday staples are rising.
Canada currently lacks a unified national and regional strategy to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Instead, protection efforts remain fragmented across provincial and regional laws and policies due in part to the distribution of constitutional power. This must change. We need a cohesive, nationwide approach supported by all provinces and territories, and backed up by laws and policies. This approach to biodiversity protection must be co-created with First Nations and make space for Indigenous Law. It is important that every jurisdiction legally protects biodiversity and ecosystem function. As Canada’s most biodiverse province with the most species at risk, British Columbia is an excellent place for action. Successive governments have promised to introduce such a law to move biodiversity protection from the periphery to the core of land use decision-making. Only when provinces and the federal government step up on biodiversity law, can we turn the tide on biodiversity loss and secure the future of our ecosystems and communities. With so much on the line, we need to work together to tackle this crisis. This is no time to walk away.
