Europe has the largest share of land area, 21.4 percent, where human-wildlife interactions will decline by 2070, the report said.
The researchers also found that all continents are expected to see an increase in forest areas where there is increased interaction between humans and wildlife.
“Compared to forests on other continents, mammal populations are expected to decline the most in the forests of South America (33.4 percent) and Africa (21.3 percent); amphibian populations (45.4 percent) and reptile populations (40 percent) are expected to decline the most in the forests of South America; and bird populations are expected to decline the most in the forests of South America (36.8 percent) and Africa (26.1 percent) compared to forests on other continents,” they write.
The researchers predicted the same trend for agricultural land worldwide. These overlaps were attributed to changes in the supply and demand of ecosystem services provided by wildlife.
“For example, over two-thirds (70.2 percent) of the croplands where human-wildlife interaction is expected to increase by 2070 are expected to see a decline in insectivorous bird species – species that can help reduce the number of pests on crops. In contrast, only one-third (29.3 percent) are expected to see an increase in insectivorous bird species,” the report says.
Grasslands are expected to experience an increase in human-wildlife interactions and a 56.3 percent decline in large carnivore biodiversity.
Urban areas are also expected to see greater human-wildlife overlap: the population is expected to increase 1.9-fold by 2070, leading to a decline in biodiversity.
The researchers said their predictions could guide large-scale conservation prioritization and define conservation policies to address special circumstances in the future and enable better management of coexistence.
“These findings underscore the need to focus conservation and sustainability efforts on hotspots of forest overlap, as these diverse wildlife communities will face increasing and concurrent human stressors in the future,” the study authors said.
They also mentioned that protecting urban wildlife and its benefits will become increasingly important in the future, as a significant proportion of humanity will live in cities in the coming decades.
