How our buying habits are pushing species to extinction

THOUSANDS of endangered species such as orangutans are being pushed closer to extinction by Britain’s demand for food and timber, a report revealed yesterday.

Supplies of palm oil, rubber, cocoa and wood use an area of land overseas nearly as big as the UK, said WWF and the RSPB.

Importers still rely on areas where rainforests are at high risk of being cleared such as Brazil, Indonesia and Ivory Coast.

It is increasing the threat of extinction for 2,800 species such as giant anteaters, orangutans and pygmy hippos. It is also putting the planet at risk of new pandemics similar to coronavirus, which is thought to have leapt from bats to humans. The report was released a day after international pressure forced Brazil to postpone a vote on a law that would have opened up 6,000 sq miles of the Amazon to loggers, farmers and miners.

But, as revealed in the Daily Express last week, destruction of the Amazon rainforest is accelerating under cover of coronavirus. Figures show deforestation in Brazil rose 64 per cent last month compared with the same period last year.

The area of forest cut down or burned rose to 156 sq miles – an area bigger than Manchester and Birmingham combined – from 95 sq miles in April last year.

The WWF/RSPB report said the UK’s land footprint overseas has grown 15 per cent since 2011-15 to a total of 82,000 sq miles a year based on a study of imports of soy, palm oil, cocoa, beef and leather, pulp and paper, timber and natural rubber.

Conservationists want ministers to require firms to prove that their supply chains are not wrecking the planet. WWF chief executive Tanya Steele said: “The hidden cost of the food we eat and the things we buy is all too often the destruction of nature overseas.

“Every hectare cleared brings us in closer contact with wild animals and risks a new global pandemic.”

However, endangered wildlife received a boost yesterday from the UK government.

International Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith announced £3.4million will be spent helping groups to fight the illegal trade in wildlife.