Beef and dairy account for 41% of farmland biodiversity damage

Beef and dairy drive 41% of biodiversity damage linked to global farmland

A new study in Nature Food reveals that beef and dairy production cause 41% of the biodiversity loss linked to global farmland, while contributing just a fraction of calories. The research, involving Oxford and Leiden universities, finds that two-thirds of agriculture's carbon and biodiversity losses occur on just one-third of farmland, concentrated in South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. Restoring the most damaged 30% of farmland could sequester 170 billion tonnes of carbon and prevent 60% of extinction risk from agriculture.