Nature loss threatens UK national security, intelligence chiefs warn

The collapse of global ecosystems poses a high risk to the UK’s national security and prosperity, government intelligence leaders have warned.A new report, Global Biodiversity Loss, Ecosystem Collapse and National Security,1 says that the “severe degradation or collapse” of ecosystems presents a series of risks, including food shortages and price rises, global conflict, novel zoonotic diseases, and the loss of pharmaceutical resources.If ecosystems collapse, it warns, UK food supplies will be at particular risk “without significant increases” in the domestic food system and less reliance on imports.The 14 page briefing report says that the Amazon rainforest, the Congo rainforest, boreal forests, the Himalayas, and South East Asia’s coral reefs and mangroves are of particular strategic significance for the UK. These six ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and are essential for human societies because they support climate, water, and weather cycles that food production relies on, says the report.But it highlighted…