1. Impacts on Biodiversity, Climate Change & Birdlife Oliver Hornung 2. As a species, we need to be smarter. We need to create a world where we use natural resources in a more efficient way. We need to ensure these resources are fairly distributed, and that everyone on this planet, both today and tomorrow, has access to safe, sufficient, sustainable food. Magda Stoczkiewicz 3. 90% of cattle 70% sheep 70% goat 98% poultry 4. 25% 25%25%25% 5. Agriculture = 1.4% of overall GDP world 6. Animals= 40% of overall agriculture GDP 7. 2.5 Billion people in agriculture 8. 1.7 Billion people in animal agriculture 9. 17% of energy 33% of protein 10. It is an acknowledged truth, that pasture land produces a smaller quantity of human subsistence than corn land of the same fertility -Thomas Robert Malthus 11. 1 bathtub = 140 litres of water 12. To produce one kilogram of oven dry wheat grain, it takes 715 - 750 litres of water For 1 kg maize, 540 - 630 litres For 1 kg soybeans, 1650 - 2200 litres For 1 kg paddy rice, 1550 litres For 1 kg beef, 50,000 - 100,000 litres For 1 kg clean wool, 170,000 litres 13. EPA US/ USDA 14. The biggest threat to wildlife is from the habitat loss and degradation caused by humanitys expanding footprint. The greatest single impact in sheer area comes from clearing forests and woodlands for agriculture, primarily for the creation of pastures for livestock 15. 26 million hectares have been cleared for palm oil 16. 136 million hectares have been cleared for animal agriculture 17. Habitat loss is identified as a main threat to 85 per cent of all species described in the IUCN's Red Lists - species officially classified as "threatened" and "endangered. IUCN (World Conservation Union) 18. Habitat modification and loss, species extinctions and range contractions, depletion of ecological communities, land and water degradation, salinisation, accelerated soil erosion, and nutrient loss have been experienced most severely in the agricultural and grazing sectors of the country 19. Grazing/Pastures: - Soil compaction - Loss of plant cover (native) - Alter fire regimes - Loss of soil structure (riparian zones) - Competition for native grazing animals - Increasing nutrient cycling (waste) 20. g s, sh Bush Heritage 21. ABS 22. Though the extreme rates of land clearing that placed Australia in the top 10 land clearing nations in the world have reduced over the past 5 years, we are still clearing much more native vegetation than is being replanted or that is regenerating naturally Bush Heritage 23. 80% of land adjacent is used for agriculture, primarily beef Beef cattle grazing is the largest single land use with approximately 4,500,000 cattle grazing in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment 72% of the reefs hard coral has died since the 1960s Fine silt (the major coral killer), over 75% of which comes from grazing lands 24. Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels Professor Edgar Hertwich, United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management 25. 26. Most birds that are already threatened are also climate-change susceptible and so face an even more uncertain future Birdlife International 27. The way we manage our land has an impact on biodiversity. If we get it wrong biodiversity is driven into decline, but if we get it right we reverse the trends Birdlife Europe 28. Our results suggest that any level of commercial livestock grazing is detrimental 29. Species absence at high levels of grazing (20%), An increase in abundance with increasing grazing(18%) When trees were not cleared, a rich and abundant bird fauna can coexist with moderate levels of grazing. High levels of grazing resulted in a species-poor bird assemblage dominated by birds that are increasing in abundance nationally 30. While our work and that of others demonstrates that livestock grazing can have deleterious impacts on birds, particularly at high levels, overall a rich and abundant bird fauna has been able to persist in extensively managed grazed grassy eucalypt woodland despite 200 years of livestock grazing 31. BirdLife Australia opposes the grazing of native vegetation by domestic livestock (and/or activities associated with maintaining a grazing herd) where it has a detrimental impact on bird populations. For every 10 per cent increase in tree cover, bird diversity increased by 7 per cent. At the same time, exotic birds decreased by 21 per cent. 32. Livestock compete directly with native birds for food, water and other resources. Other effects include alteration of vegetation structure and floristics (for example promoting a profusion of grazing- resistant native shrubs), Trampling (including of nests), erosion and degradation of soils, watercourses and wetlands Lack of recruitment of non grazing-resistant woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) Nutrient and surface water flow regimes. 33. Woodland birds 34. s Seed-eating birds 35. Ground-nesting and ground-feeding birds 36. Rangeland birds 37. Wetland/coastal species 38. Grassland birds 39. Livestock production is one of the major causes of the worlds most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 40. A person who follows a plant based diet PRODUCES 50% less carbon dioxide, 1/11th oil, 1/3rd waste 1/13th water, 1/18th land compared to a meat-eater for their food. 41. Nothing increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet -ALBERT EINSTEIN 42. It is easier to change a man's religion than his diet. -MARGARET MEAD