The findings are overwhelming but there remains hope. Here in a few words is a summary of the latest report entitled “Living Planet” drawn up by the World Wildlife Fund on the subject of our wild animals. According to the WWF, wildlife populations have declined by 73% on average in fifty years. Please note, this does not mean that two thirds of the animals have disappeared. Rather, the size of different groups of animals of the same species has decreased by 73%.
So of course, the index used by the WWF to measure the decline of wildlife is sometimes criticized. Some scientists believe that the calculation method used draws an exaggerated observation. But nonetheless, the facts are there. Over the last fifty years, our animals have suffered seriously. Imagine. In Latin America, this loss is estimated at 95%, due to the force of the blows to the Amazon rainforest. Can we be satisfied to see our old European continent capping at a loss of 35%? Not even. In more industrialized societies, the decline had already occurred before 1970, allowing certain animal populations to stabilize or even progress thanks to significant conservation efforts. We can cite as examples the wolf, the bison or the bears, which almost disappeared.
And that’s where this article and report can give us hope. Because it shows that with global awareness and (admittedly colossal) efforts, we can still save our planet. “The picture painted is incredibly worrying,” admits Kirsten Schuijt, executive director of WWF. “But the good news is that we are not yet at the point of no return,” she adds. Take the example of the bison. Decimated by man to the point of having disappeared in the wild in 1927, the European species numbered 6,800 individuals in 2020. Thanks to whom? Well, thanks to man, who launched “large-scale breeding” to lead to a successful reintroduction into protected areas where the bovids live their peaceful lives.
Words, more words…
To save what can still be saved, the WWF insists on the need to implement the Paris or Kunming-Montreal agreements which committed states around the world to preserving nature. Ambitions which will be (again) discussed on the occasion of the 16th conference of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which is being held from October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia. But with what commitments? And what sanctions for those who do not respect them?
Beyond a simple catastrophe for biodiversity, the disappearance of wildlife also presents obvious risks for human life. “The changes could be irreversible, with devastating consequences for humanity,” warns Daudi Sumba. The chief curator of the WWF cited the example of the Amazon, which risks switching from the role of “carbon sink to carbon emitter, thus accelerating global warming”. Another example: the loss of corals, which alters the regeneration of fish species victims of overfishing. At the end of the chain, millions of human beings could be deprived of this resource, which they themselves destroyed. “We have emptied the oceans of 40% of their biomass,” recalled Yann Laurans of WWF France. There is urgency.