A new report has shown a direct link between forest destruction and the loss of languages.
The study by researchers Jonathan Loh at the Zoological Society of London and David Harmon at the George Wright Society, suggest that rapid declines in forest habitats and languages are paralleled.
Harmon and Loh note one in four of the world’s 7000 languages are at current threat of extinction, confirming a simultaneous decline in linguistic diversity and biodiversity – approximately 30% since 1970. The figures demonstrate an unfortunate impact on 21% of all mammals, 13% of birds, 15% of reptiles, 30% of amphibians and 400 languages.
