Intensive farming methods that use high levels of pesticides and fertilisers, often with associated run-off, have led to negative impacts on biodiversity, including a decline in many bird species. Other key impacts on biodiversity arise from inappropriate land clearing, land use and erosion control, high levels of water use, planting of crops in monocultures, declines in genetic diversity, and loss of traditional varieties of crops and livestock.
One of the largest impacts of all types of intensive agriculture is habitat loss for other species, one of the main causes of threatened species. As an alternative, organic and sustainable farming methods that exclude or minimize the use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers greatly reduce the threats to biodiversity. Buying locally sourced species is also important.
Meat production is often highly intensive and has similar impacts to intensive fruit and vegetable production. A significant proportion of intensive meat production is based around high-density animal stocking in barns and feedlots, combined with use of antibiotics to prevent disease at high stocking levels, hormones to increase growth rates and animal feed imported from other farms and often from other countries or continents.
This imported feed is generally also intensively produced. Furthermore, providing the same food value as meat requires much more land area than providing it as grains and pulses; and high-density animal farming creates large amounts of manure and liquid wastes that run the risk of environmental damage if they are not disposed of carefully.
Sustainable meat production uses lower-density stocking and locally produced animal feeds - often grazing and feed production on the same farm. Meat production can also be a valuable use of land that is not suitable for crop production, and part of balanced farming systems.
Aquaculture (fish farming) can have adverse effects on biodiversity if the activities are badly established and managed. Fish and food waste from the cages used by fish farms can pollute the sea, lakes or rivers. Antibiotics and other chemicals that are used to keep farmed fish free of disease and parasites can contaminate the natural ecosystem, and farmed fish regularly escape and compete with native fish populations.
In Europe, the Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) has developed a code of conduct for promoting sustainable aquaculture and avoiding impacts on the environment and biodiversity.
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