Human activity has driven animals and plants into decline in every region of the world, putting our own well-being at risk by over-harvesting and polluting, a comprehensive species survey warned Friday.

Asia-Pacific fish stocks may run out by 2048 and more than half of Africa's bird and mammal species could be lost by 2100 unless drastic measures are taken, according to four comprehensive reports released at a major environmental conference in Medellin, Colombia.

Up to 90 percent of Asia-Pacific corals will suffer "severe degradation" by 2050, while in Europe and Central Asia, almost a third of known marine fish populations, and 42 percent of land animals and plants, are in decline.

In the Americas, just under a quarter of species assessed are at risk of extinction.

"This alarming trend endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and the quality of life of people everywhere," warned the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Compiled by nearly 600 scientists over three years, the reports underline that nature provides humans with food, clean water, energy, and regulates Earth's climate -- just about everything we need to survive and thrive.

One of the reports found that Nature's contribution to people can be in the order of thousands of dollars per hectare per year.

"We're undermining our own future well-being," IPBES chairman Robert Watson said of the findings.

The IPBES assessment divided the world into four regions: the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia -- the whole planet except for the Antarctic and the open seas.

Volunteer scientists combed through some 10,000 scientific publications for the most extensive biodiversity survey since 2005.

The findings were summarized in four reports approved by 129-member IPBES' member countries in Colombia. They contain guidelines for governments to make biodiversity-friendlier policies in future.

"If we continue the way we are... the sixth mass extinction, the first one ever caused by humans, will continue," Watson old AFP.

There are plenty of hurdles ahead.

"Economic growth is going to continue. Population growth is going to continue to 2050, therefore demand for resources will grow," said Watson.

Even at best-case-scenario levels, global warming will continue adding to species loss, which will cause further degradation of ecosystems.

"It's not too late" to halt or even reverse some of the harm, he said.

"Can we stop all of it? No. Can we significantly slow it down? Yes," Watson said.