Daily Times

KARACHI: The way we feed, fuel and finance our societies and economies is pushing nature and the services that power and sustain us to the brink, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2018.

The report, released on Tuesday, presents a sobering picture of the impact of human activity on the world’s wildlife, forests, oceans, rivers and climate, underlining the rapidly closing window for action and the urgent need for the global community to collectively rethink and redefine how we value, protect and restore nature.

The Living Planet Report 2018 presents a comprehensive overview of the state of our natural world, twenty years after the flagship report was first published. Through indicators such as the Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Species Habitat Index (SHI), the IUCN Red List Index (RLI) and the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), as well as Planetary Boundaries and the Ecological Footprint, the report paints a singular disturbing picture: human activity is pushing the planet’s natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge.

Speaking during the launch of the report, WWF-Pakistan Conservation Director Dr. Babar Khan said that science is showing us the harsh reality forests, oceans and rivers are enduring at our hands. The LPI, which tracks trends in global wildlife abundance, indicates that global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles declined, on average, by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014, the most recent year with available data. The top threats to species identified in the report are directly linked to human activities, including habitat loss and degradation and overexploitation of wildlife.

He shared that Pakistan is home to magnificent biodiversity most importantly the snow and common leopards, Indus dolphin, white-backed and long-billed vultures, Arabian Sea humpback whale among others that face similar threats. He deplored that the recent incidence of oil pollution in Pakistani waters and confiscation of pangolin scales and turtle meat show that human activities are adversely impacting biodiversity and environment. ‘We, and the planet, need a new global deal for nature and people now,’ he added.

The report highlights that over recent decades, human activity has also severely impacted the habitats and natural resources wildlife and humanity depend on such as oceans, forests, coral reefs, wetlands and mangroves.

While shedding light on the extent and impact of human activity on nature, the Living Planet Report 2018 also focuses on the importance and value of nature to people’s health and well-being and that of our societies and economies. Globally, nature provides services worth around $125 trillion a year, while also helping ensure the supply of fresh air, clean water, food, energy, medicines and other products and materials.

The report specifically looks at the importance of pollinators which are responsible for $ 235-577 billion in crop production per year and how changing climate, intensive agricultural practices, invasive species and emerging diseases have impacted their abundance, diversity and health.

A roadmap for action on nature – for 2020 and beyond

Evidence shows that the two agendas – for the environment and human development – must converge if we are to build a sustainable future for all. The Living Planet Report 2018 highlights the opportunity the global community has to protect and restore nature leading up to 2020, a critical year when leaders are expected to review the progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

WWF is calling on people, businesses and governments to mobilise and deliver on a comprehensive framework agreement for nature and people under the CBD, one that galvanizes public and private action to protect and restore global biodiversity and nature and bend the curve on the devastating trends highlighted in the Living Planet Report 2018.

Published in Daily Times, October 31^st 2018.