The loss of half of wildlife in the world in the past 40 years, as evidenced by the ‘Living Planet 2014′ report by WWF (in Spanish, World Wide Fund for Nature), confirms the critical state of biodiversity.
Reduction in habitat degradation and exploitation due to hunting and fishing, and climate change are the main causes of this impact .
The tenth edition of this biennial report records more than 10,000 vertebrate species from 1970 to 2010 through the Living Planet Index (HPI), a database stored by the Company Zoological London.
To get an idea of the losses just look at the numbers of tigers in the world, which, throughout the twentieth century, went from 100,000 to 3200 copies.
Despite being a global alert, the outlook for Latin America is perhaps the most daunting: the region lost 83 percent of the populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles from 1970 to date.
Hence in the tropics it is registered-in the same period-a reduction of 56 percent in 3,811 populations of 1,638 species, exceeding the 32 percent in 6,569 populations of 1,606 species in temperate zones.
According to the report, freshwater species have been the most affected, with a decrease of 76 percent. Changes in water levels and connectivity of the aquatic system, resulting in some cases, for example, irrigation and hydroelectric dams have negative impacts on these ecosystems.
Reducing terrestrial species also shows positive signs. decreased by 39 percent and risk factors agriculture, urban development and energy production appear
But worry not is new. Despite intensive campaigns on the care and preservation of species resources, measurements confirm that each day the damages are higher.
“Biodiversity is a crucial component of the systems supporting life on Earth and the barometer that defines what you are doing to the planet, our only home. We urgently need bold global action in all sectors of society to build a more sustainable future, “the CEO of WWF International, said Marco Lambertini.
Three Earths
The amount of productive land a year using a person to maintain their lifestyle (nature and resources), which is known as ecological footprint, has another chapter of the report.
In 2010, the global ecological footprint was 18,100 million global hectares (gha), which translates to 2.6 gha per capita, but total biocapacity of the Earth was 12,000 million gha , ie 1.7 gha per capita. Colombia, according to the report, was just under 2 hag.
This ecological overshoot that we are submitting to the world beyond its regenerative capacity.
In this way, we would need 1.5 planets to provide the ecological services they use every year.
And this, projected to 2050, when an estimated population World population reaches 9,600 million, would need three planet Earths.
Against this background, urging action to curb a bigger impact. While recovering the resources we had years ago is impossible, WWF raised through the initiative One Planet strategies ranging from preserving the natural capital to produce better and consume wisely to use and share natural resources within the current limitations of the planet.
This seeks to ensure the safety of food, water and energy for all.
Interview with Luis Germán Naranjo, Director of Conservation WWF Colombia
Following publication of the biennial report ‘Live Earth’ TIME consulted Luis Germán Naranjo, Director of Conservation WWF Colombia, who analyzed the impact of the loss of biodiversity by country.
Should we worry in Colombia
As a country, we worry because once again shown trends in the LPI for tropical countries are more complicated. Is that countries like ours, despite their wealth, are losing faster than other regions. So we thought to address a parallel exercise and for Colombia.
What would it be and how soon?
We are examining the sources of information and appropriate methodologies. Aspiraríamos that we could link biodiversity institutes like Humboldt, Sinchi the Pacific Studies, Invemar, and have information specialists. I would not dare to give an estimate, but the initial phase, which is seeking support and definition of the methodology would be developed throughout the next year.
What raises WWF to stop the damage?
With the initiative One Planet seeks to develop ways of working to ensure the safety of food, water and energy for all the future . It has five lines: preserving the natural capital; produce better, ie inputs and reduce waste; consume responsibly redirect financial flows (support and reward conservation) and foster equitable resource governance, implying that we all have access to these.
TIME
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