* Around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, including 70 million indigenous people
* Forests are home to more than 80 per cent of all terrestrial species of animals, plants and insects
* Between 2010 and 2015, the world lost 3.3 million hectares of forest areas. Poor rural women depend on common pool resources and are especially affected by their depletion
* 2.6 billion people depend directly on agriculture, but 52 per cent of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation
* Arable land loss is estimated at 30 to 35 times the historical rate
* Due to drought and desertification, 12 million hectares are lost each year (23 hectares per minute). Within one year, 20 million tons of grain could have been grown
* 74 per cent of the poor are directly affected by land degradation globally
* Illicit poaching and trafficking of wildlife continues to thwart conservation efforts, with nearly 7,000 species of animals and plants reported in illegal trade involving 120 countries
* Of the 8,300 animal breeds known, 8 per cent are extinct and 22 per cent are at risk of extinction
* Of the over 80,000 tree species, less than 1 per cent have been studied for potential use
* Fish provide 20 per cent of animal protein to about 3 billion people. Only ten species provide about 30 per cent of marine capture fisheries and ten species provide about 50 per cent of aquaculture production
* Over 80 per cent of the human diet is provided by plants. Only three cereal crops – rice, maize and wheat – provide 60 per cent of energy intake
* As many as 80 per cent of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant-- ‐based medicines for basic healthcare
* Micro-organisms and invertebrates are key to ecosystem services, but their contributions are still poorly known and rarely acknowledged.