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The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in a report that the alarming loss of biodiversity threatens devastating consequences for humankind if it goes unchecked.
Changes to climate may be reversible in time, but there is no going back once species become extinct, said the report, which was released on Monday during the ongoing UN Biodiversity Conference 2018 held in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Unsustainable crop, livestock, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture practices as well as unproductive systems such as industries and mining and urbanisation processes are taking an incalculable toll on wealth of the biodiversity and the health of ecosystem, it noted.
Vera Agostini, FAO deputy director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division, said the UN agency aims to save threatened species from demise.
She said her agency plans to raise awareness and foster dialogue with communities and stakeholders in the coming years to reduce activities in the oceans, lakes and seas, reports Xinhua.
"We are set to develop metrics and indicators to measure impacts and dependence of the agricultural sector on biodiversity," Agostini noted.
Representatives from 196 countries are present at the UN biodiversity conference, which started on Nov 13 and is expected to last until Nov 29.