Tharanga Yakupitiyage :
Wildlife is being wiped out in an unprecedented rate, and it’s our fault. But a new deal could provide a new pathway forward.
Concerned over the rate of biodiversity loss, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is calling for a new deal for nature and people in order to accelerate and integrate action between three core areas: biodiversity, land degradation, and climate change.
“The trends are shocking. We are facing a decline which is unprecedented and its accelerating,” WWF’s Director General Marco Lambertini told IPS.
“This is a global issue. Almost no country is completely exempt,” he added.
And it’s not just the iconic species like pandas, elephants, and tigers, he noted.
According the WWF’s recent Living Planet report, populations of vertebrate species have declined by 60 percent around the world in just 40 years.
Freshwater species alone faced a decline of over 80 percent.
Such population declines were especially prominent in South and Central America, where there is 89 percent less wildlife than in 1970.
Among the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss are directly linked to human activities, namely land conversion and overexploitation.
Over 40 percent of the world’s land has been converted or set aside for agriculture alone.
Wildlife is being wiped out in an unprecedented rate, and it’s our fault. But a new deal could provide a new pathway forward.
Concerned over the rate of biodiversity loss, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is calling for a new deal for nature and people in order to accelerate and integrate action between three core areas: biodiversity, land degradation, and climate change.
“The trends are shocking. We are facing a decline which is unprecedented and its accelerating,” WWF’s Director General Marco Lambertini told IPS.
“This is a global issue. Almost no country is completely exempt,” he added.
And it’s not just the iconic species like pandas, elephants, and tigers, he noted.
According the WWF’s recent Living Planet report, populations of vertebrate species have declined by 60 percent around the world in just 40 years.
Freshwater species alone faced a decline of over 80 percent.
Such population declines were especially prominent in South and Central America, where there is 89 percent less wildlife than in 1970.
Among the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss are directly linked to human activities, namely land conversion and overexploitation.
Over 40 percent of the world’s land has been converted or set aside for agriculture alone.
