DECLINING WILDLIFE A MOUNTING CONCERN
Every human being has a responsibility to protect the planet that we live in, as much as we do for our individual homes. Unfortunately, reckless human activity — how we feed, fuel, and inance our lives — is taking a heavy toll on wildlife and the natural resources we need to survive. In what would rattle collective human conscience, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has stated that from 1970 to 2014, 60 per cent of all animals with a backbone — ish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — were wiped out by human activity.
For freshwater fauna, the decline in population over the 44 years monitored was a staggering 80 per cent. Latin America was hit hardest, seeing a nearly 90 per cent loss of wildlife over the same period, as per the WWF’S “Living Planet” report.
It does not give cozy comfort to note that the earth has lost almost half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years and that a ifth of the Amazon has actually disappeared in 50 years.
The situation is really bad, and it keeps getting worse, as WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini points out. The consolation, though, is the reasons for the crisis are known and corrective measures are possible. What it calls for is collective will.
As far as the UAE is concerned, the country is fortunate that its Founding Father, late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, himself was an ardent nature lover and conservationist who laid a strong foundation for environmental protection.
Though the UAE is situated in one of the most arid regions, it boasts alluring mangroves, wadis, salt marshes and lagoons.
The UAE’S idea of conservation was exempliied by an incident last year when an entire project venue was shifted to rescue a bird. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, were travelling to a forest area when they spotted a houbara bustard bird laying eggs near a project site. They immediately ordered to shift the project to another part of the area to protect the bird and its eggs.
There is a dire global need to reduce carbon emissions, prevent habitat loss and ight climate change. Destroying nature at this pace would have dangerous consequences on human beings. It’s better to wake up before it’s too late. ■■■