Experts warn of big drop in wildlife populations by the end of the decade

GLOBAL wildlife populations are set to have fallen by more than two thirds on 1970 levels by the end of the decade, conservationists warn.

Assessment of 14,152 populations of 3,706 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles from around the world reveals a 58 per cent fall between 1970 and 2012 – with no sign the average two per cent drop in numbers each year will slow.

By 2020, populations of vertebrate species could have fallen by 67 per cent over a 50-year period unless action is taken to reverse the damaging impacts of human activity, the Living Planet report from WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said.

The figures prompted experts to warn nature was facing a global “mass extinction” for the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs.

African elephants in Tanzania have seen numbers crash due to poaching, maned wolves in Brazil are threatened by grasslands being turned into farmland and European eels have declined due to disease, over-fishing and changes to their river habitats.

Species are being increasingly affected by unsustainable agriculture and fishing, as well as mining and other human activities that cause habitats to be lost or become degraded.

Wildlife is also being hit by over-exploitation, climate change and pollution, the report warned.

It is not just wildlife that is being affected, with humans also the “victims” of the deteriorating state of nature, as they depend on breathable air, drinkable water and nutritious food, it said.

While wildlife continues to decline on average, species that depend on certain habitats have seen some improvements in recent years, the report revealed.

Grassland species have increased slightly since 2004, which the report puts down to conservation efforts for some mammals in Africa, though bird populations continued to decline.

Overall terrestrial species, which are found in habitats ranging from grasslands to forests, have seen populations drop by two-fifths (38 per cent) since 1970.

Freshwater species are faring even worse, with declines of four-fifths (81 per cent) between 1970 and 2012. A FORMER shop assistant will become the youngest Church of Scotland minister today.

Stuart Love, 25, will be ordained at Clincarthill Parish Church on the south side of Glasgow this evening.

Mr Love, a former sales assistant at WH Smiths in Hamilton, said he was “excited and nervous” about his new role in equal measure.

Mr Love worked in the retail trade between 2007-13.

He said his parents Lorna and Robin told him that he declared at the age of five he wanted to be either a church minister or the Prime Minister when he grew up.

He added that his calling to Clincarthill Parish Church was a sign “God is not finished with the Church of Scotland”. Photograph: Coln Mearns