An undeniable truth in agroecology is that the agricultural system that feeds the world is the biggest predator of biodiversity, destroying the habitat of species through the use of fertilizers and herbicides, and creating vast monocultures.
▶ Humanity depends on the diversity of plants and animals in the oceans, in the soil and in the sky for the planet to remain habitable, including the purity of water and air, for pollination to be possible and for the proper functioning of the ecosystem, as well as for substances to produce medicines.
It is estimated that agriculture and livestock occupy about 50% of the world's habitable land. While habitats such as the Amazon, where the cattle industry is cutting down the rainforest, often dominate the headlines, important native grasslands in countries around the world.
Traditional and more wildlife-friendly methods, such as grazing cattle over long distances to summer and winter pastures, can bring biodiversity benefits. Grazing animals in these cases helps control invasive pests and maintain important grassland habitats for ground-nesting birds.
Giant monocultures dominated agriculture, largely replacing small farms growing diverse crops, and the effects of this on biodiversity have been devastating.
Intensive agriculture of any kind is simply the enemy of the insects that really need to thrive, and on insects everything else depends, seepage into water systems leads to excess nutrient content that causes algae growth, which then blocks sunlight and absorbs oxygen from the water as it decomposes.
