A team of scientists mapped the distribution of eight human activities — including hunting and conversion of natural habitats for agriculture — in areas occupied by 5,457 threatened birds, mammals and amphibians worldwide.
Hot spots:
- Human impacts on species occur across 84% of the earth’s surface.
- 1,237 species are impacted by threats in more than 90% of their habitat; 395 species are affected by threats across their entire range.
- While the impact of roads is highest (affecting 72% of terrestrial areas), crop lands affect the highest number of threatened species: 3,834.
- Southeast Asian tropical forests — including those in India’s Western Ghats, Himalaya and north-east — are among the ‘hotspots’ of threatened species.
- Malaysia ranks first among the countries with the highest number of impacted species (125).
- India ranks 16th in such human impacts, with 35 species impacted on average.
Cool spots:
- Roads and croplands are extensive in India and conversion of habitat for such activities could be a main threat.
- However, these very areas are also ‘cool-spots’ (the world’s last refuges where high numbers of threatened species still persist).
- Cool-spots could be the result of protection or because of intact habitat that has not been cleared yet.
- India still has crucial refuges that need protecting. For instance, agricultural crops such as pulses have supported the conservation of the critically endangered great Indian bustard.
