since 1970, Global average decline vertebrate populations it was 69%, As the Living Planet Report prepared by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reveals.
The report, which has reached its fourteenth edition, analysis of the situation of about thirty-two thousand populations of more than six thousand vertebrate species -fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals – from all over the planet between 1970 and 2018.
Emphasizes that the most affected populations correspond to freshwater species, The tropics are the regions with the greatest impact, a decline of 83% since 1979. where Latin America and Caribbean experienced an average of 94% decline vertebrate populations by base year
As special circumstances, Coral loss recorded worldwide; A 65% reduction in the Amazon pink dolphin population and an average 71% reduction in populations of 18 out of 31 oceanic shark and stingray species, mainly due to fishing pressure.
data, main Direct factors of the degradation of terrestrial, marine and freshwater systems, changes in land use, overuse of plants and animals, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species.
Actually, several of these factors contributed to the 66% decline in wildlife populations. Total decline of 55% in Africa and Asia Pacific.
Besides the loss of biodiversity, degradation of ecosystems and their services, According to the study’s authors, energy is produced by the demand for food and other materials over the last fifty years due to economic growth, population growth, international trade and technology selection.
To prevent their destruction and deterioration Among other things, the report proposes to consider mangroves as a key element for coastal communities and to restore the landscape’s natural connections through a “protection of connectivity”.
It also points to the essential role of forests in stabilizing the climate, which is threatened by deforestation, especially in the tropics, producing carbon emissions and increasing the number of droughts and fires.
This is lost biodiversity combined with the climate crisis creates a “bilateral” crisis, negatively and with repercussions affecting particularly poor and vulnerable human communities.
Some of these results include “displacements and deaths caused by increasingly frequent extreme weather events, soil depletion, lack of access to fresh water or increased expansion diseases zoonotic diseases and food insecurity”.
Report featuring, among other things, the latest data from the Zoological Society of London’s Living Planet Index (LPI)argues that this dual crisis can be mitigated by conservation and restoration efforts and sustainable food production and consumption, and rapid and deep decarbonisation of all sectors.
Also, it indicates that “None of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to food and water security, will be achieved unless we protect and restore biodiversity and limit climate change. health for people or poverty reduction”.
The 89 authors who participated in the drafting of the text ask political leaders to transform history. economies that value natural resourcesbecause “a positive future for nature will not be possible without respecting the rights, governance and conservation leadership of indigenous peoples and local communities”.
The report states that in 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council of all peoples of the world, has the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and has achieved stronger environmental laws and policies in more than 80 countries. and increased public participation and environmental performance.
Juan Carlos del Olmo, secretary general of WWF Spain, declared in a statement that it was essential to “incorporate systemic changes that address equality, fairness, as well as the way we produce and consume, and new approaches that integrate our living spaces and economic and financial systems.
WWF expects world leaders to commit, at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15), a Paris-like nature Agreement to reverse biodiversity loss and ensure a positive nature by 2030.