In 1985, the United Nations (UN) decided to proclaim the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day, to raise awareness of the importance of guaranteeing sustainable development of cities, as well as the right to have decent housing.

Although this world day is usually associated with cities, the UN reminds us that natural habitats are the basis of all life on the planet. More than 75 percent of terrestrial ecosystems and about 66 percent of marine ecosystems are already showing signs of human degradation, and more than 85 percent of wetlands have been lost, according to data from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

This degradation directly threatens biodiversity: around
one million
species of fauna and flora are threatened. Deforestation, pollution of rivers and seas and changes in land use are the main causes, so they could become extinct in the coming decades if habitat loss is not stopped.

But the degradation of natural habitats also puts people’s well-being and health at risk, as it reduces the capacity of ecosystems to provide us with ecosystem services and resources, such as clean water, clean air and food. Around 3.2 billion people in the world depend on ecosystems at risk for their livelihoods and livelihoods. Soil degradation, for example, already affects 40% of the earth’s surface, compromising global food security.

To address this situation, ambitious goals are being promoted to restore ecosystems and conserve biodiversity. One of the most prominent is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which seeks to reverse this situation by restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems and effectively protecting at least 30% of the planet’s land and marine areas by 2030.