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In the case of species protection, negative headlines have been increasing for years. Thousands of animals are already on the Red List of the World Union for Conservation of Nature. But the message was not as clear as the “Living Planet Report 2020” released Thursday by the WWF environmental foundation and the Zoological Society of London: more than two-thirds of the animal world examined for the report has been destroyed by humans in the past 50 years.
Therefore, the populations of animals, birds and fish included in the biennial report have declined by almost 70 percent since 1970. According to the organizers of the study, this is due to the destruction of forests and the expansion of agriculture.
For the report, the environmental organization WWF analyzed around 21,000 populations of around 4,400 species of vertebrates. The decline in mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles averaged 68 percent between 1970 and 2016 and has now increased to 70 percent.
The data used, according to the report, used almost 4,000 sources, took into account the populations of all climatic zones, continents and different habitats, from forests to fresh water. According to the report, more and more so-called citizen scientists are involved in counting animals.
Species extinction hotspots: Africa and Latin America
According to the report, the endangered animals are the eastern lowland gorilla in the Congo, the leatherback turtles in Costa Rica and the sturgeon in the Yangtze; the latter has fallen 97 percent since 1970. Latin America is generally “extremely bad,” said study author Christoph Heinrich of WWF. According to the report, the number of species examined in Europe is 25 percent. The strongest interventions in the landscape occurred here before 1970 and thus before the beginning of the study period, Heinrich explained the comparatively good value. As the report says, most places without a human footprint are found in a few countries: Russia, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
In Germany, partridge and lapwing are being affected by massive populations, says Heinrich. These two are only representative of bird and insect species in the agricultural landscape.
Overall, the report represents only a small part of biodiversity. Biologists assume between 10 and 20 million species of animals and plants worldwide, according to WWF spokesman Heinrich. But not all of them are constantly monitored. How things are with insects has not yet been taken into account.
Natural destruction and overuse are occurring at an unprecedented rate, according to the report. “We are losing the diversity of life on earth,” said Christoph Heinrich. In the 2018 report, the measured decline in observed populations was still 60 percent on average. The development is “extremely worrying”.
In light of the numbers, WWF is calling for a system change in agricultural policy, the food system and global supply chains. Furthermore, one third of the earth must be under protection by 2030.
