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Some key species have been significantly damaged, including African elephants, maned wolves, hellbender salamanders, leather back turtles, orcas and eels.

Urgent action necessary to halt human impact on environment

A new enquiry into the world’s wildlife populations has revealed that global vertebrate numbers are on track to decrease by 67 per cent, from 1970 to 2020.

The research, undertaken by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), suggests urgent action is needed to reduce human destruction of the environment, natural habitats and species.

There has been an average annual decline of two per cent every year, in global populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians, since 1970. That’s a total of 58 per cent in 46 years.

As human life engulfs the planet, wildlife is pushed to the brink. Through deforestation, overfishing, illegal wildlife trade, pollution and climate change, some key species have been significantly damaged, including African elephants, maned wolves, hellbender salamanders, leather back turtles, orcas and eels.

Recent conservation measures to protect tiger and panda populations across the globe, as well as restrictions on the international trade of endangered species, have been extremely successful and demonstrate that solutions are possible.

Director of science and policy at WWF-UK, Mike Barrett, said: “For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we face a global mass extinction of wildlife. We ignore the decline of other species at our peril – for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the world that sustains us. Humanity’s misuse of natural resources is threatening habitats, pushing irreplaceable species to the brink and threatening the stability of our climate.

“We know how to stop this. It requires governments, businesses and citizens to rethink how we produce, consume, measure success and value the natural environment. In the UK, this demands a serious plan to strengthen protection for habitats and species and new measures to fast track low-carbon growth. Britain, like all developed nations, must take increasing responsibility for its global footprint. December’s conference on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity would be a good place for the UK government to signal that it’s serious about helping tackle the global loss of species.”

Director general of WWF International, Marco Lambertini, said: “Across land, freshwater and the oceans, human activities are forcing species populations and natural systems to the edge. We have the tools to fix this problem and we need to start using them if we are serious about our own survival and prosperity.”

Director of science at ZSL, Professor Ken Norris, said: “Human behaviour continues to drive the decline of wildlife populations globally, with particular impact on freshwater habitats. Importantly, however, these are declines – they are not yet extinctions – and this should be a wake-up call to marshal efforts to promote the recovery of these populations.”

The Living Planet Report highlights the damage of human food production, attributing agriculture as one of the key contributors in the destruction of our planet, placing major strains on freshwater systems and habitats, and causing a loss of biodiversity. The report clarifies the need for large food industries to feed the world through sustainable measures. Global scientific opinion states that the impact of humanity on the Earth is so great that a new ecological era- the Anthropocene- is upon us and needs to be acknowledged.

WWF is calling on the public to show governments across the UK they want ambitious action now to protect the environment at home and overseas. To sign up and find out more, visit: www.org.uk/lpr #ForOurPlanet

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