WWF: "The number of wild animals has decreased by 60% since 1970"

World Wildlife populations have declined by 60% since 1970 due to human factors such as pollution, deforestation and climate change. This is what the World Wide Fund for Nature writes in its biennial Living Planet Report on Biodiversity, published on Monday

. The total number of four thousand animal species belonging to the mammal, bird, reptilian, amphibian and fish categories declined rapidly between 1970 and 2014, according to the WWF. The organization pleads in favor of an international treaty, similar to the Paris agreement on climate, to protect wildlife, reports CNN

The crisis is "unprecedented in its rapidity and its scale, "says Marco Lambertini, CEO of the organization. "We are talking about forty, not even a nod to the history of life on earth."

According to the WWF, human activities are the main cause of the sudden fall:

"The promotion of agriculture and overfishing are the greatest threats, and poaching, infrastructure construction, pollution and climate change have a significant impact on animal species."

It is estimated that the world's share of land free of human influence is expected to increase from one-quarter to one-tenth by 2050. As a result, the disappearance of an environment for animals will continue to decrease, according to the WWF, as well as the consequences of hunting, pollution and diseases. Climate change is also a growing threat.

Tropical Zones

Animal life has dropped dramatically in the tropical areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, by 89% since 1970, according to the WWF. The species that depend on freshwater systems, such as frogs and river fish, have decreased by 83%.

According to the report, the pressure on tropical forests remains undiminished, writes the ANP. In 50 years, 20% of the Amazon region has disappeared:

"In rivers, wetlands and deltas, wild animal populations have collapsed by 83% on average. dams, irrigation and gloving for agriculture, pollution and overfishing are putting great pressure on freshwater areas. "

In the Netherlands, the WNF concluded that regulation was good for animal species in freshwater areas. However, this recovery was relative because in previous decades much of the nature of the rivers and lakes had been lost due to, among other things, pollution. "So we have very little left," according to the WWF. "In addition, the recovery has stabilized over the last ten years."

The WWF considers that it is crucial to take nature conservation measures, such as the creation of protected areas and the protection of animal species. But more is needed, said Kirsten Schuijt, director of the World Wide Fund for Nature. "If we are the cause of the loss of nature, we can also reverse the trend."