Dietary change is not a prerequisite for effective biodiversity conservation but reduces socioeconomic obstacles

Abstract The food production system has become the largest driver of biodiversity loss today. Here we apply a quantitative and spatially explicit framework to provide an integrated perspective on how a partial or complete transition to healthier diets would affect different dimensions of biodiversity change and compare the effects to a bundle of alternative conservation measures. Our results show that a decoupling of biodiversity loss from underlying drivers such as population and income growth depends more on conservation measures that address structural trends in land-use dynamics and allocation than on a convergence towards healthier diets. Particularly, as in many countries in tropical Africa and Asia, converging towards healthier diets would mainly involve reducing the intake of staple foods in favour of more nutritious plant-based foods, instead of replacing resource-intensive livestock products. However, even a partial dietary shift would significantly reduce important barriers to conservation, such as higher food prices and imports.