To reverse the rapid loss of species around the globe, world governments should protect nearly one-third of all lands and oceans and slash major sources of pollution by the end of the decade, according to a new United Nations proposal.

The draft plan , released Monday by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, outlines a path for combating the biodiversity crisis that many scientists say is the start of Earths sixth mass extinction. The 2030 goals include safeguarding 30% of all land and sea, with at least 10% put under strict protection; combating the spread and introduction of invasive species; and cutting nutrient and plastic pollution by at least 50%.

The post-2020 framework will be taken up at a United Nations biodiversity summit in China in October and could replace 2020 goals that countries agreed to in 2010 and largely failed to achieve.

A sobering United Nations report in May found that up to 1 million land and marine species could be wiped out by human activity if present trends continue. The rate of extinction is up to hundreds of times higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years, according to the three-year study authored by nearly 500 scientists.

The draft text comes as Australia battles unprecedented bushfires that have already killed an estimated 1 billion animals , including many endangered species .