We contend that it is conventional farming, not the conservation policies of the European Union, that is driving most of the biodiversity loss both inside the EU and outside it (see I. Bateman and A. Balmford Nature 618, 671–674; 2023). In our view, the authors’ proposal to use land sparing to mitigate trade-offs between agriculture and biodiversity is overly simplistic.
Competing Interests
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The authors declare no competing interests.