Germany finances protected areas | Legacy Landscapes Fund [Video]

Nature is being lost at breakneck speed: according to the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), more than half of all ecosystems have already been destroyed. Every year, about ten million hectares of forest disappear – that’s more than the area of Portugal. Fifty per cent of all coral reefs have been lost, the oceans are polluted and overfished. A reversal of the trend is currently not in sight. On the contrary, according to the IPBES, one million species are threatened with extinction in the coming decades.

What is clear, however, is that nature conservation costs money and that there is a funding gap that will become even larger with more ambitious targets. According to estimates, at least 150 billion dollars are needed annually for the conservation of biodiversity. Eighty per cent of all species live on about 20 per cent of the earth’s land mass, most of which is in developing countries. There …