Humans face extinction as globe’s species decline

HUMAN activity has driven animals and plants into decline in every region of the world, putting our own well-being at risk by over-harvesting and polluting, a comprehensive species survey warned on Friday.

Asia-Pacific fish stocks may run out by 2048 and more than half of Africa’s bird and mammal species could be lost by 2100 unless drastic measures are taken, according to four comprehensive reports released at a major environmental conference in Medellin, Colombia.

Up to 90% of Asia-Pacific corals will suffer severe degradation by 2050, while in Europe and Central Asia, almost a third of known marine fish populations, and 42% of land animals and plants, are in decline.

In the Americas, just under a quarter of species assessed are at risk of extinction.

“This alarming trend endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and the quality of life of people everywhere,” warned the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Compiled by nearly 600 scientists over three years, the reports underline that nature provides humans with food, clean water, energy, and regulates Earth’s climate – just about everything we need to survive and thrive.

“We’re undermining our own future well-being,” IPBES chairman Robert Watson said of the findings.

The assessment divided the world into four regions: the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia – the whole planet except for the Antarctic and open seas.

Volunteer scientists combed through some 10 000 scientific publications for the most extensive biodiversity survey since 2005.

The findings were summarised in four reports approved by 129-member IPBES’ member countries in Colombia. They contain guidelines for governments to make biodiversityfriendlier policies in future. The texts make for grim reading, and come in the same week that the death of Sudan — the world’s last northern white rhino male — served as a stark reminder of the stakes.