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4,45 million square kilometers of crop land could be saved by reducing the yearly meat consumption by 50%, the size of India and Mongolia together
Barcelona, May 22nd 2020; – As today is Biodiversity Day, Heura wants to highlight the impact of meat consumption has on it “Reducing by 50% livestock production would save 30% of biodiversity loss and therefore 12.000 species every year” extracts Bernat Añaños, the Co-founder of the plant based meat startup Heura, from the report entitled “Appetite for Destruction” and the fact that every day 110 animals and insects species are lost from rainforest destruction. The report shows that 60 percent of all biodiversity loss across the planet can be traced back to livestock production.
In addition, the World Resources Report, Creating a Sustainable Food Future points out that the ongoing expansion of cropland and pastures is the primary source of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss.
In terms of crop land usage, Añaños explains that “by reducing 50% the animal meat consumption, 4,45 million square kilometers of crop land could be used for agriculture, the size of India and Mongolia together. “Multiplying by 2.5 the legumes and cereals production capacity for human consumption, the extension of the entire Australia, we would solve several concerns in terms of biodiversity, climate change and hunger creating a more sustainable food system” adds the Co-founder of Heura.
This conclusion comes from a research by Greenpeace where it shows that every kg of meat production requires 27.000 square meters of crop land. “Taking into account that in 2017, 330 million tonnes of animal meat were consumed in the world, we could conclude that each year we use 8.91 million square kilometers only to eat meat. “ explains Añaños.
On top of this, according to FAO, the currently amount of agricultural land in Earth is 15 million square kilometers and livestock takes up nearly 80% of it, yet produces less than 20% of the world’s supply of calories.
“All these data shows the incoherence of our current food system and the urge we have to transition to a plant based diet if we want to take care of the biodiversity, the planet and therefore our own health” concludes the co-founder of Heura.
