Urgent action needed to protect wildlife as global populations halve in 40 years

Global wildlife populations have halved in just 40 years, as recorded by WWF's Living Planet Report 2014 and measured by the Living Planet Index.  www.zsl.org/livingplanetindex Wildlife's continued decline highlights the urgent need for sustainable solutions to humanity’s increasing demand on our natural resources, according to the report released today.

Populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by an average of 52%.  Freshwater species populations have suffered a 76% decline, an average loss almost double that of land and marine species.

The report shows that the biggest recorded threat to biodiversity comes from the combined impacts of habitat loss and degradation, driven by unsustainable human consumption. The report notes that the impacts of climate change are becoming of increasing concern.

David Nussbaum, Chief Executive of WWF-UK said, “The scale of the destruction highlighted in this report should be a wake-up call for us all.  But next year – when countries of the world are due to come together to agree on a new global climate agreement, as well as a set of sustainable development goals – presents us with a unique opportunity to reverse the trends we see in the Living Planet Report. We all – politicians, businesses and people – have an interest, and a responsibility, to act to ensure we protect what we all value: a healthy future for both people and nature.”

Professor Ken Norris, Director of Science at the Zoological Society of London said: “The scale of biodiversity loss and damage to the very ecosystems that are essential to our existence is alarming. This damage is not inevitable but a consequence of the way we choose to live. Although the report shows the situation is critical, there is still hope. Protecting nature needs focused conservation action, political will and support from businesses.”

The Living Planet Report 2014 is the tenth edition of WWF's biennial flagship publication. The report uses the Living Planet Index – a database maintained by the Zoological Society of London which tracks over 10,000 vertebrate species populations from 1970 to 2010. The index reveals a continued decline in these populations and this global trend is not slowing down.

The report also highlights that we are using more resources than our planet can continue to provide and if we continue to do so, we will create even greater problems for ourselves in years to come.

For example, we are cutting down trees more quickly than they can regrow, harvesting more fish than the oceans can restock, pumping water from our rivers and aquifers faster than rainfall can replenish them, and emitting more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb. This cannot continue without profound harm to humans and to the natural world on which we depend.

The report, published days after the UN Climate Summit in New York, concurs with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that climate change is already impacting on the health of the planet.

WWF-UK Chief Executive

David Nussbaum

David Nussbaum

Image by The CBI

, who attended the UN Climate Summit added: ‘Ambitious and focused negotiations over an international climate deal to be agreed in Paris next year are a clear opportunity to control, and hopefully reverse, the trends highlighted in the Living Planet Report. Concluding a global agreement that sets countries on course to build low carbon economies is essential, and our reliance on fossil fuels is currently the dominant factor in driving dangerous climate change.’

While recognising that the task ahead is difficult, the report points out that there is nothing inevitable about the continuing decline in the Living Planet Index or our overuse of the earth’s resources. 

Wildlife's continued decline highlights the need for sustainable solutions to reverse the trends highlighted in the report.  While biodiversity loss around the world is at critical levels, the Living Planet Report 2014 also provides solutions for a healthy planet. It calls for better ways of managing, using and sharing natural resources within the planet’s limitations – so as to ensure food, water and energy security for all.

WWF’s One Planet Perspective outlines how we can reverse the trends outlined in the report through a series of practical decisions. We need to divert investment away from the causes of environmental problems and towards solutions; make fair, far-sighted and ecologically informed choices about how we manage resources; preserve our natural capital; produce better and consume more wisely. 

In 2015, world leaders will agree two potentially critical global agreements: the post-2015 development framework - which will include Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by all countries by 2030; and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

While there are many hard facts about the state of our planet in the report, there are grounds for optimism. We have an opportunity to make decisions that allow all people to live a good life on a healthy planet, in harmony with nature. This opportunity, together with the many examples of how people are reversing the trends outlined in the report, give us hope for a better future.- ends -

 

Examples of affected species:

TERRESTRIAL SPECIES

 

What: African lion (Panthera leo)

Where: Ghana

Why: In Ghana’s Mole National Park, the lion population has declined by over 90% in 40 years. This is thought to be due to killing of lions in retaliation to human lion conflict, and is a worrying example of the status of lions in Western and Central Africa.  

 

What: Forest elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis)

Where: West and Central Africa

Why: Due to a rapid loss of their traditional habitat, forest elephants have been restricted to a mere 6-7 per cent of their historic range. Further recent analysis suggests that, across the forest elephant’s range, the population size declined by more than 60 per cent between 2002 and 2011 – primarily due to increasing rates of poaching for ivory

 

What:Tiger (Panthera Tigris)

Where: Nepal

Why: There has been a 100 year decline in wild tiger numbers, from around 100,000 in 1910 to as few as. 3,200 in 2010. This dramatic decline is due to habitat destruction and poaching of tigers for the illegal Wildlife trade.

 

What: Hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock)

Where: Bangladesh

Why: In Bangladesh, populations of the endangered Hoolock gibbon declined by more than 50% between 1986 and 2006, due to habitat destruction.

 

What: Snakes - e.g. Meadow viper, Asp viper, Western whipsnake (depends which one Kate buys an image for)

Where: Europe

Why: 11 populations have declined sharply and 8 of these across UK, France and Italy have declined by over 50% between 1990 and 2009 . The exact cause is unknown but it’s likely a combination of factors including habitat degradation and loss of prey

 

MARINE SPECIES

 

What: Harbour Seal (Phoca vitulina)

Where: Orkney Islands, UK

Why: Phocine distemper epidemics are thought to have caused significant declines  in Harbour seal populations. However, this does not seem to entirely explain long term decline. It is thought that local factors, for example, the killing of seals in the Moray Firth to protect Salmon Farms may also have an impact. Between 2001 and 2006, the population in Orkney and Shetland declined by 40%.

 

What: Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

Where: Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Costa Rica               

Why: The Leatherback turtle has declined in both the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. For example, it declined by 95% between 1989 and 2002 in Las Baulas National Park in Costa Rica. This decline was principally due to turtles being caught as by-catch, but also affected by development around the nesting beaches. This trend has been observed in other populations throughout its range.

 

What:Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis              )

Where: Ionian sea, Greece

The short-beaked common dolphin has been in decline in the Mediterranean sea since the 1960s. Between 1996 and 2007 numbers declined in the Ionian sea from 150 to 15 individuals. Overfishing in the area is thought  to have reduced the amount of prey available for the dolphins.

 

FRESHWATER

 

What: Hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)

Where: Missouri, USA

Why: Over 20 years of monitoring them (from 1975 to 1995) populations of hellbender salamanders declined by about 77% in 5 locations in Missour, but declines have been observed across its range. The exact causes have not been established but it is thought that degradation of the habitat from the impact of agriculture and the recreational use of rivers might be the main driver.

 

What: European eel (Anguilla Anguilla)

Where: Europe

Why: Widespread declines have been found among populations of the European eel. The species is Critically Endangered and is threatened by changes to freshwater habitat which impede its migration. Other major threats are disease and overfishing.

 

BIRDS:

 

What: Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans)

Where: South Atlantic Ocean

Why: A rapid decline has been observed in populations of the wandering albatross, driven largely by incidental catch in long line fisheries. One population, from Bird Island, South Georgia, declined by 50% between 1972 and 2010 according to data from the British Antarctic Survey long term monitoring programme.

 

What: Grey partridge (Perdix perdix)

Where: UK

Why: Farmland birds in the UK, such as Grey partridge, have declined by 50% between 1970 and 2012 mainly due to changes in agricultural management which affect the birds’ breeding habitat.

 

What: Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

Where: Australia

Why: Population sizes of many migratory shorebird species are reported to be in decline in Australia. For example one site in Southern Australia saw a 23% decline across all species from 1982 to 2011. These birds are long distance migrants and it is thought that the degradation of their habitat at stopover sites on their migration route could be causing their decline. The Curlew Sandpiper has seen a particularly large decline  - one study monitored this species at seven sites in Australia and found a decline from 37,500 individuals in 1982 to 7,500 in 2005


 

 

TROPICS:

 

What : Rain or robber frogs (Eleutherodactylus karlschmidti, Eleutherodactylus  jasper and Eleutherodactylus eneidae)

Where: Puerto Rico

Why: Between 1989 and 2001 three species of rain or robber frogs - are thought to have gone extinct and eight populations from the same group of frogs (Eleutherodactylus) suffered severe declines in one of Puerto Rico’s national forests. A fungus is affecting amphibian populations all over the world is thought to be the cause of decline here, along with long periods of drought.

Editor’s notes

WWF is one of the world’s largest independent conservation organisations, with more than five million supporters and a global network active in more than one hundred countries. Through our engagement with the public, businesses and government, we focus on safeguarding the natural world, creating solutions to the most serious environmental issues facing our planet, so that people and nature thrive.  Find out more about our work, past and present at wwf.org.uk

ZSL Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity whose mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. Our mission is realised through our ground-breaking science, our active conservation projects in more than 50 countries and our two Zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. For more information visit www.zsl.org

 

 

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