The planet has lost 70% of its wildlife since 1970, warns WWF

Published on: 10/13/2022 – 04:43 Between 1970 and 2018, an average of 69% of wild animals have disappeared, according to the Living Planet Index published Thursday by WWF, which evokes a “red alert for the planet and therefore for humanity”. The role of the climate crisis is increasingly important in this decline. The planet has lost an average of nearly 70% of its wild animal populations in fifty years, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) benchmark assessment published Thursday, October 13, which points to the link of more between 1970 and 2018, an average of 69% of the populations of this wildlife – fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles – disappeared, according to the Living Planet Index, a reference tool published every two years by the WWF. The destruction of natural habitats, in particular to develop agriculture, remains the main cause, according to the report, followed by overexploitation and poaching. Climate change is the third factor, but its role is “increasing very, very quickly”, warns Marco Lambertini, director general of the WWF. This is followed by air, water and soil pollution, as well as the dissemination by man of invasive species. Call to save wild species This report is a “red alert for the planet and therefore for humanity” , Marco Lambertini told an international online press conference, “at a time when we are beginning to truly understand that sustainable ecosystems, rich biodiversity and a stable climate are necessary to guarantee a prosperous, more equitable and more safe for us, and particularly for our children and their children in turn”.As we approach the international COP15 Biodiversity summit, in December in Montreal, “WWF calls on governments to seize this ultimate opportunity by adopting a ambitious global agreement to save wildlife”, similar to the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change. To “reverse the curve of biodiversity loss” and “mitigate climate change”, the report pl aid for scaling up conservation and restoration efforts, producing and consuming more sustainable food, and rapidly decarbonizing all economic sectors. Lowland Gorilla The numbers are “really scary” for Latin America, says Mark Wright, scientific director of the WWF, with 94% disappearance on average in this region “renowned for its biodiversity” and “decisive for climate regulation”. Europe has seen its population of wild animals decrease by 18% in mean. “But this masks very extreme historical losses of biodiversity,” before the analysis period, said Andrew Terry, director of conservation at Zoological Society of London, WWF’s partner in establishing the index. In Africa, the index estimates the loss at 66% on average. “A glaring example is in Kahuzi Biega National Park, DR Congo, where the number of eastern lowland gorillas has dropped by 80%,” primarily through hunting, said Alice Ruhweza, WWF’s Africa director. leatherback, lynx, sharks, corals and tree frogs are also among the most threatened “biodiversity icons” highlighted by the report. With AFP