Nature destroyed at ‘unprecedented rate’
The populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish have fallen by more than twothirds in the last five decades, a new report reveals.
The World Wide Fund For Nature’s Living Planet Report, released yesterday, describes a catastrophic decline in biodiversity.
Global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles decreased on average by 68 per cent between 1970 and 2016, the index reveals.
And it says environmental degradation, such as deforestation, unsustainable agriculture and the illegal wildlife trade, contribute to virus outbreaks, like Covid-19.
The Living Planet Index has tracked the abundance of almost 21,000 populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians around the world.
Marco Lambertini, World Wide Fund For Nature’s international director general, said the report provides ‘‘unequivocal and alarming evidence that nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of vital natural systems’ failure’’.
‘‘Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in millions of years. The way we produce and consume food and energy, and the blatant disregard for the environment entrenched in our current economic model, has pushed the natural world to its limits.’’
Livia Esterhazy, chief executive of World Wide Fund For Nature NZ, said we’ve been destroying nature, for our gain, for a long time.
‘‘Nature can no longer feed and fuel our 21st century way of life. So, we have to fundamentally change how we produce food, how we consume, to have any hope in reversing the decline, and ultimately securing our own future as humans on this planet.
‘‘The species decline and population decline is a measure of overall ecosystem health so a serious decline is an indicator that nature is unravelling.’’
The report makes the link between nature and human health, she said. ‘‘Disease like Covid stem predominantly from animals. Taking live animals from their ecosystem and bringing them into a marketplace, where they are not meant to be. That gives a far greater chance of spillover to happen, of diseases to jump from animal to human.
‘‘And by clearing rainforest and forest, you are putting humans a lot closer to these wild animals and the wild habitats. And again, putting humans much closer to potential spillover of diseases from those animals.’’
Seventy-five per cent of the Earth’s ice-free land surface has been ‘‘significantly altered,’’ most oceans are polluted and more than
85 per cent of wetland areas lost, the report says.
This destruction of ecosystems has led to 1 million species being threatened with extinction over the coming decades and centuries.
In the last half century, land use change has driven biodiversity loss. The world’s human population has doubled since 1970, and the global economy increased fourfold. As we rushed to feed people, native habitats, like forests, mangroves and grasslands, have been converted to agricultural systems.
One-third of the earth’s terrestrial land surface is used for cropping or animal husbandry, and of the total amount of water withdrawn from available freshwater resources, 75 per cent is used for crops or livestock.
Oceans are also in trouble with overfishing, pollution, coastal development and climate change causing adverse effects.
Humans are now overusing the Earth’s biocapacity – the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to regenerate – by at least 56 per cent, the report estimates.
‘‘This means that the human enterprise currently demands 1.56 times more than the amount that Earth can regenerate. It is like living off 1.56 Earths,’’ it says.
‘‘As with the 2008 economic crash, this year’s lockdowns due to Covid-19 have reduced humanity’s demand by nearly 10 per cent. However, since this reduction was not caused by structural change the gains are unlikely to last, and may even delay action on climate change and biodiversity loss.’’
The rate of new introductions of invasive species has increased steeply since 1950, and 37 per cent of all recorded alien species were introduced between 1970 and 2014.
Climate change is accelerating, leading to the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and sea level rise, putting further pressure on ecosystems and biodiversity, the report says.
The report points to an alarming decline (94 per cent) in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially among reptiles, freshwater fish and amphibians.
Across the world, almost one in three freshwater species are threatened with extinction.
In New Zealand, the Department of Conservation’s Biodiversity in Aotearoa report, released in August, noted that of 976 freshwater species assessed 14 per cent were ranked ‘threatened’ and 17 per cent ‘at risk’.
‘‘New Zealand is not a poster child in this space at all,’’ Esterhazy said. ‘‘We are one of the largest emitters per capita for carbon in the world, 4000 of our native species are endangered. And our entire marine environment is under threat with less than 1 per cent of our oceans protected.
‘‘We recently passed global Earth Overshoot Day on August 22, which is the day when we, as a human species, have consumed more from the planet than it can regenerate. Ideally that day is December 31.
‘‘In New Zealand, that overshoot day is May 5.
‘‘We fundamentally have to change the way we farm, the way we fish, the way we produce products, the way we bring in products from overseas.’’
World Wide Fund For Nature is calling for zero loss of natural habitats by 2030, an end to the extinction of species and for the footprint of consumption to halve.