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UNITED NATIONS - A new United Nations report says we are using up our natural resources too fast and are in danger of destroying about two-thirds of the Earth's ecosystems.

The Millennium Assessment, released Wednesday, warns that 15 of 24 global ecosystems are in decline and that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow much worse in the next 50 years.

The UN study is a synthesis of the work of about 1,300 researchers from 95 countries. It is being hailed as the most comprehensive survey ever into the natural systems that sustain life on Earth.

UN Undersecretary Hans van Ginkel says the assessment reveals a consensus among the world's social and natural scientists.

"It's not yet extreme, it's not exactly immediate collapse, but we better act before the collapse is there," he said.

The study warns of the emergence of new diseases, sudden changes in water quality, creation of coastal "dead zones," the collapse of fisheries and shifts in regional climate.

It says the way we have obtained our food, fresh water, wood, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has dangerously degraded the environment. It also warns that we have compromised our ability to address hunger, poverty and improve health care.

Researchers explain that a population boom after the Second World War created an unsustainable rush for natural resources.

For example, more land has been converted to agriculture since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th centuries combined. In fact, the lack of trees and bushes in some areas has significantly reduced protection from disasters like tsunamis and floods.

And in some heavily populated areas, a lack of farming knowledge is turning normally fertile land into deserts.

Things are no better in our oceans and lakes. Fish stocks have dropped to one-tenth of their levels before industrial fishing began.

Over the next 100 years, 32 per cent of fish, 12 per cent of birds, 25 per cent of mammals could be extinct.

The study's co-chair, Malaysian biologist A.H. Zakri, called on Asian nations to take special note of the report.

"Much of what is in the report relates strongly to Asia. But at the same time, it's not easy to come up with a 'one fits all' solution because almost all the diversity of the world is present in that one continent," said Zakri.

The 2,500-page report is aimed at changing the way we use our resources. It raises hope that better education, new technologies and higher prices for exploiting ecosystems could help slow the damage.