One in five people around the world rely on wild animals, plants and fungi for food and livelihoods, according to a landmark assessment.

But many wild species are not being harvested sustainably, putting food security at risk, the report found.

In 2019, experts estimated that one million plants and animals could go extinct in coming decades.

And much of this is being driven by unsustainable fishing, hunting and logging.

Now a new report by the same influential body concludes that the sustainable use of wild species is critical for people and nature.

And climate change and increased demand is likely to push more species to the brink, putting food security at risk.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is conservation scientists' equivalent of the IPCC group of climate scientists.

Their most recent assessment, approved by 139 countries in Bonn, Germany, focuses on how fishing, hunting and logging can be carried out more sustainably without damaging biodiversity and food security.

It found that billions of people across the world rely on 50,000 species of wild animals, plants and fungi for food, medicine, fuel, income and other purposes.

The assessment paints a picture of widespread exploitation of nature, with about a third of wild fish in the ocean overfished, more than 10% of wild trees threatened by unsustainable logging, and more than 1,300 mammals pushed to extinction by unsustainable hunting.