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Biodiversity in the world continues to deteriorate. This decline can only be reversed by a global agreement on the harmony between man and nature, which must be achieved through "strong leadership". This is the message of the Living Planet biennial report of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) published this Tuesday. The WWF emphasizes that nature is not just " nice to have ", but that it is essential to the survival of humanity. Examples include bees; without pollination by these insects, crops would decrease.
Wildlife populations have dropped an average of 60% worldwide between 1970 and 2014, according to the report, in which research findings were collected by twenty institutes. Research involving more than four thousand vertebrate species has reported a 60% decline.
The main cause of this decline is the continued destruction of habitats, for example by agriculture and "overexploitation", such as overfishing, according to the WWF. "These trends stem from the growing demand for resources around the world," said Monique Grooten, editor-in-chief of the report. The report speaks of "explosion of human consumption" and highlights the important "ecological footprint" of the United States and Canada in particular, but also of Russia, Australia and Canada. Saudi Arabia.
Biodiversity is nevertheless dramatic. according to the WWF, the trend can still be reversed. The organization of nature draws particular hope in the evolution of the situation in the Netherlands, where, thanks to European measures, wildlife has recovered slightly in wetlands since the beginning of the 1990s – although this improvement has been reintroduced in the last ten years. "Development in the Netherlands shows that environmental policy has an effect and that nature has resilience," said Grooten. Worldwide, the population size of freshwater species has decreased on average by 83% since 1970, mainly due to the degradation of water quality, reduction the amount of water and the lack of connections between the waters, for example because of the construction of dams. the world The most dramatic is the decline since 1970 in the tropics, especially in Central America and South America; an average decrease of 89%. The reason is often deforestation, especially in areas relatively rich in biodiversity, such as tropical rainforests. According to the report, a quarter of the country is currently free of human influence in the world – deserts, mountains, tundra and polar regions. This percentage is expected to decline further to 10% in 2050.
According to the WNF, the greatest profit can be obtained in the short term by ending deforestation. "Forests are good for species conservation and of great importance for the regulation of natural processes," said Grooten. In the long run, it is advantageous to stop logging. "Restoring nature always costs more than preventing damage."
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