Wildlife populations plummeting in face of human activity, report…

Global wildlife populations have fallen by 60% since 1970 and are a threat to civilization, chilling WWF report warns

  • WWF called for an ambitious ‘global deal’ for nature and people
  • Biggest drivers of current biodiversity loss are overexploitation and agriculture
  • Only a quarter of the world’s land area is free from the impacts of human activity 
  • By 2050 that will have fallen to just a tenth, the report predicts

Global wildlife populations have fallen by 60% since 1970 as humans overuse natural resources, drive climate change and pollute the planet, a chilling  report has warned.

WWF has called for an ambitious ‘global deal’ for nature and people, similar to the international Paris Agreement to tackle climate change, as the conservation charity’s new report spelled out the damage being done to the natural world.

Only a quarter of the world’s land area is free from the impacts of human activity and by 2050 that will have fallen to just a tenth, the Living Planet Report 2018 says. 

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Orangutans are threatened by the loss of their forest home. Only a quarter of the world’s land area is free from the impacts of human activity and by 2050 that will have fallen to just a tenth, the Living Planet Report 2018 found.

WHAT DID THE REPORT FIND? 

Populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined by 60% between 1970 and 2014, the most recent year with available data. 

Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years.

Fifth of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.

Globally, nature provides services worth around $125 trillion a year, while also helping ensure the supply of fresh air, clean water, food, energy, medicines, and much more.

 

The percentage of the world’s seabirds with plastic in their stomach is estimated to have increased from 5% in 1960 to 90% today, and the world has already lost around half its shallow water corals in just 30 years.

Overall, populations of more than 4,000 species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians have declined by an average of 60% between 1970 and 2014, the most recent year for which data is available.

Tropical areas have seen the worst declines, with an 89% fall in populations monitored in Latin America and the Caribbean since 1970.

Species which live in fresh water habitats, such as frogs and river fish, have seen global population falls of 83%, according to the living planet index by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) which tracks the abundance of wildlife.

From hedgehogs and puffins to elephants, rhinos and polar bears, wildlife is in decline, due to the loss of habitats, poaching, pollution of land and seas and rising global temperatures, the Living Planet report warns.

Current action to protect nature is failing because it is not enough to match the scale of the threat facing the planet, the conservationists claim.

‘This report sounds a warning shot across our bow,’ said Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US. 


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WWF has called for an ambitious ‘global deal’ for nature and people, similar to the international Paris Agreement to tackle climate change, as the conservation charity’s new report spelled out the damage being done to the natural world

‘Natural systems essential to our survival—forests, oceans, and rivers—remain in decline. 

‘Wildlife around the world continue to dwindle. It reminds us we need to change course. It’s time to balance our consumption with the needs of nature, and to protect the only planet that is our home.’ 

‘Exploding’ levels of human consumption are driving the impacts on nature, with over-exploitation of natural resources such as over-fishing, cutting down forests to grow crops such as soy and palm oil and the use of pesticides in agriculture.

Climate change and plastic pollution are also significant and growing threats.

THE PLASTIC POLLUTION CRISIS

The percentage of seabirds with plastic in their stomach has increased to 90 per cent from 5 per cent in 1960, the shocking report reveals

The percentage of seabirds with plastic in their stomach has increased to 90 per cent from 5 per cent in 1960, the shocking report reveals.

Plastic pollution is one of the worst ways man is adversely affecting the environment.

Among the alarming findings was work from the Commonwealth and Scientific Research Organisation which showed that of 186 species of seabirds 90 per cent have plastic in their stomachs, a figure projected to rise to 99 per cent by 2050.

The Daily Mail has led the fight to cut the number of plastic bags dished out by supermarkets, as well as championing a deposit scheme to curb plastic bottle dumping.

Loggerhead turtles are affected by plastic waste, such as abandoned fishing nets.

 

 

But wildlife is not just a ‘nice to have’ for humans, the report warns, with human food, health and medicines all relying on natural resources.

All human economic activity ultimately depends on nature, the report said, with globally natural resources estimated to provide services worth 125 trillion US dollars ( £97 trillion) a year.

With the world set to review progress on sustainable development and conserving biodiversity under UN agreements by 2020, there is a window of opportunity for action in the next two years, the conservation group argues.

Tigers are killed for the illegal wildlife trade, with this skin seized at Heathrow Airport

The Cerrado habitat in Brazil is being cleared for soy monocultures (Adriano Gambarini/WWF-Brazil/PA)

A new global deal should be secured, backed by strong commitments from governments and businesses.

WWF chief executive Tanya Steele said: ‘We are the first generation to know we are destroying our planet and the last one that can do anything about it.

‘Our wanton destruction of nature, coupled with the brutal chaos of climate change, is the biggest threat to humanity.

‘If we want a world with orangutans and puffins, clean air and enough food for everyone, we need urgent action from our leaders and a new global deal for nature and people that kick starts a global programme of recovery.’

WHAT ANIMALS ARE WORST HIT? 

Here are some examples of species being affected, according to WWF:

– Hedgehog populations declined by three quarters in urban areas of the UK between 2002 and 2014, thought be due to factors including habitat loss, pesticides reducing their prey and vehicle deaths.

– African grey parrot populations in south-west Ghana decreased by 98% between 1992 and 2014 due to exploitation and damage to their habitat.

– The whale shark population in the Indo-Pacific is estimated to have fallen 63% over the last 75 years, and in the Atlantic by more than 30%, so that globally populations are thought to have fallen by more than 50% over the last 75 years.

– African elephant populations in Tanzania have declined by 60% between 2009 and 2014, mostly due to poaching for their ivory.

– Populations of black and white rhinos are down by an average of 63% between 1980 and 2006, with the illegal wildlife trade for their horns the biggest threat facing the animals.

– Polar bear numbers are projected to decline by 30% by 2050, as climate change melts the Arctic ice and reduces their ability to hunt seals, find mates and rear their young.

– More than 100,000 Bornean orangutans are estimated to have been lost between 1999 and 2015, largely due to the loss of their forest home for timber and palm oil plantations as well as illegal hunting.

– Puffin numbers in Europe, which is home to 90% of the global population of the charismatic seabirds, is projected to fall by 50%-79% between 2000 and 2065 in the face of climate change and overfishing.

– Populations of the wandering albatross have seen rapid declines as the birds are accidentally caught in long-line fisheries, with one population from Bird Island, South Georgia, falling 50% between 1972 and 2010, according to data from the British Antarctic Survey.

 

TV presenter and WWF-UK ambassador Ben Fogle said: ‘I don’t want my children growing up to learn about tigers, rhinos and even hedgehogs through history books and museums.

‘I want them to see our world’s diverse and wonderful wildlife with their own eyes.

‘But our inaction is wiping out species across the globe and it terrifies me that, unless we make committed and immediate change to the way we live, there will be no other option for them.’

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: ‘The continued decline in global nature highlighted by this alarming report matters to us all.

‘We are committed to being the first generation to reverse the decline in our precious environment and leave it in a better state than we found it.

‘But this is a global issue which we will not solve by ourselves. By working with countries around the world to develop a new global framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity, we will ensure we leave a legacy of which we can all be proud.’

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