Wildlife population drops 69% in under 50 years: Report

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In just a little less than 50 years, wildlife populations across the planet have dropped by an average of 69% as deforestation and other human-made destructions continue to take a toll on Earth and its environment. According to the WWF and Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet Report, the abundance of animals in their natural habitats was at 68% two years ago, when it was at 60% four years earlier.

Scientists believe that the human race is enduring the sixth mass extinction - man-made that is and considered the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs. In light of the COP15 biodiversity summit in Canada this December, the authors of the Living Planet Report are calling on global leaders to devise an agreement that would curb carbon emissions and limit global warming to below 1.5°C which is already an alarming rate. The Living Planet Index analyzes 32,000 populations of 5,230 animal species globally to record changes in the abundance of wildlife. 

Latin America and the Caribbean regions have been hit the hardest, after recording a 94% drop in 48 years. Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF-UK, said, “This report tells us that the worst declines are in the Latin America region, home to the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. Deforestation rates there are accelerating, stripping this unique ecosystem not just of trees but of the wildlife that depends on them and of the Amazon’s ability to act as one of our greatest allies in the fight against climate change.”

They were followed by Africa at 66%, then by Asia and the Pacific at 55%, and North America at 20%. Europe and Central Asia came in last at an 18% fall. Steele expressed, “Despite the science, the catastrophic projections, the impassioned speeches and promises, the burning forests, submerged countries, record temperatures and displaced millions, world leaders continue to sit back and watch our world burn in front of our eyes,” adding, “The climate and nature crises, their fates entwined, are not some faraway threat our grandchildren will solve with still-to-be-discovered technology.”

She took a jab at UK's PM Liz Truss by stating that she needs to "show the UK is serious about helping people, nature and the economy to thrive, by ensuring every promise for our world is kept. Falling short will be neither forgotten nor forgiven.” 

Truss has been prioritizing the economy before nature protection and the environment, and environmental groups are concerned rare and endangered animals and plants could lose their protection, placing the environment at an even further loss. On account of that, the report notes that the UK carries only 50% of its biodiversity wealth compared with historical levels which categorize it as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. 

Truss' government was blamed by environmental activists for retracting a commitment to stopping the deterioration of nature by 2030, implemented after Brexit, commenting that the 570 environmental laws to be rescinded from EU law after Brexit would leave the environment in a state of unprotected "free-for-all". 

In regards to land use and agricultural techniques being one of the factors leading to biodiversity loss, Mike Barrett, executive director of science and conservation at WWF-UK, said, “At a global level, primarily the declines we are seeing are driven by the loss and fragmentation of habitat driven by the global agricultural system and its expansion into intact habitat converting it to produce food.”

Furthermore, another factor contributing to biodiversity loss is the increasing infrastructure and farmland, whereby according to the report, only 37% of rivers longer than 1,000 km remain free-flowing and just 10% of the world’s protected areas on land are connected.

The authors placed the Himalayas, south-east Asia, the east coast of Australia, the Albertine Rift, and Eastern Arc mountains in eastern Africa, and the Amazon basin among priority areas bound to be hit with potential future declines. 

The IUCN, which stands for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is enhancing a measure to allow researchers to know the conservation status of an animal and trace the recovery for some of the one million species already threatened with extinction on Earth. 

Robin Freeman, ZSL's head of the indicators and assessments unit, expressed urgency regarding the action needed to tackle the alarming situation facing humanity, saying, “In order to see any bending of the curve of biodiversity loss … it’s not just about conservation it’s about changing production and consumption – and the only way that we are going to be able to legislate or call for that is to have these clear measurable targets that ask for recovery of abundance, reduction of extinction risk and the ceasing of extinctions at COP15 in December.”