Did You Know...

• Rivers, lakes, and wetland habitats can be restored by building algae farms to reduce the water withdrawal for agriculture by 96% .

• Algae farms do not use herbicides or pesticides, preventing a major cause of species loss.

• Algae farms have no run-off, which reduces eutrophication and dead-zones in aquatic habitats.

• Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture. Algae farms would restore large areas of natural habitats because algae reduce the footprint for protein and vegetable oil production by 96%.

• Replacing palm plantations, soy plantations, and ranching with algae will allow restoration of nearly all rainforest habitats while increasing agricultural production and revenue.

• Large-scale implementation of algae for protein and oil would be a major driver in preventing climate change and the associated impacts on wildlife.

• Algae protein and oil supplementation of fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture would reduce the pressures for overfishing and restore ocean ecosystems.

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Biological diversity loss is one of the most severe human-caused global environmental dilemmas. Species are becoming extinct at an accelerated rate, unmatched for the past 65 million years, due to habitat loss, overfishing, use of pesticides and herbicides, water impairment, and climate change. Without action the prognosis for many species is dire including extinction of 40% of insect species[1], 12% of bird species, and 30% of amphibians. Avoiding a sixth mass extinction will require rapid, greatly intensified efforts to save threatened species and to alleviate pressures on their habitats. Algae farming addresses these primary pressures on our environment and will help avert a sixth mass extinction.

 

Reference: F Sánchez-Bayo, KAG Wyckhuys. 2019. Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation 232 (2019) 8–27