[ad_1]
Australia's east coast has been compared to the Amazon as a "deforestation front" in a new World Wildlife Fund global report that highlights the threat to populations of koalas and other native species.
The Living Planet report, produced every two years by WWF for 20 years, indicates that global populations of vertebrate species have declined by 60% since 1970. But the number of koalas has disappeared at a much faster rate – more 20% per decade – in recent decades. to the extent that they could disappear from the wild in New South Wales by 2050.
The report assessed 11 hotspots of deforestation, where large-scale land clearing had occurred at problematic levels since 2010 and where deforestation was expected to continue over the next decade. Eastern Australia is the only place in the developed world to feature on this list.
"This is an urgent reminder for our east coast to appear alongside forest destruction hot spots such as the Amazon, Congo Basin, Sumatra and Borneo," said WWF Australia Managing Director Dermot O 'Gorman.
"The critical situation of koalas is accompanied by alarming declines for many other Australian-only species that are losing their homes in the forest."
This year, the Queensland government passed laws to limit large-scale clearance. WWF Australia said NSW last year repealed laws protecting koala forests, which had tripled habitat destruction.
"Buying land is welcome, but it will only save a fraction of the koala habitat," O'Gorman said. "Tougher laws on forest protection are crucial."
The Living Planet report indicates that clearing livestock is the leading cause of deforestation on the east coast. Unsustainable slaughter is also a concern.
Report calls for new global pact
The report states that extinction rates between species are 100 to 1,000 times faster than the "baseline" before human pressures become an important factor.
The ratio index, which indicates that global vertebrate populations are down 13.6% per decade, has been established following 16,704 populations of 4,005 species since 1970.
The report says that nature provides services to humanity worth $ 125 million a year, but that human consumption "seriously undermines" nature's ability to drive and sustain societies and economies.
WWF is calling for a new global agreement for nature, "a companion to the Paris climate agreement," to promote conservation. An "urgent, ambitious and effective" agreement could be reached in November, when representatives from 196 countries will meet in Egypt to discuss progress on the Convention on Biological Diversity.
"It is time for the world to come together to come up with an urgent, ambitious and effective global agreement for nature, as it did for the climate in Paris in 2015," says WWF in a note. information accompanying the report.
"A set of collective actions is needed, as well as a roadmap for targets, indicators and parameters to reverse the loss of nature, including, for example, scenarios of soil, dietary change, sustainable harvesting as well as traditional conservation approaches areas. "
WWF International Managing Director Marco Lambertini said the world has taken nature for granted.
"It is time for us to realize that a healthy and sustainable future for all is possible only on a planet where nature thrives and where forests, oceans and rivers are full of biodiversity and life", said Mr. Lambertini.
"We need to urgently rethink the way we use and value nature – culturally, economically and on our political agendas. We must think of nature as beautiful and inspiring, but also as indispensable. We and the planet need a new global agreement for nature and people now. "
