WWF Living Planet Report published
Global verterbrate populations have suffered on average a 68% decline since 1970. That's the headline finding from the newly published WWF Living Planet Report. Dr Rosamunde Almond, editor-in-chief of this year’s report is also a Senior Research Associate at our Intellectual Forum.
Surveying biodiversity around the world the report, in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, highlights the worrying consequences of population decline of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles for both the planet and humans.
Dr Almond said: "In order to bend the curve of biodiversity loss, we know that we also have to rethink and reshape what we consume, how we produce it and our impact on the world around us.
"Research is an important part of that jigsaw puzzle and the Intellectual Forum catalyzed conversations with key authors and was also the perfect place to bring together the internationally based editorial team and research partners during storyboard development."
"Research is an important part of that jigsaw puzzle and the Intellectual Forum catalyzed conversations with key authors and was also the perfect place to bring together the internationally based editorial team and research partners during storyboard development."
More than 125 experts from around the world contributed to the report, including a number of academics from the University of Cambridge.
“The Living Planet Report 2020 underlines how humanity’s increasing destruction of nature is having catastrophic impacts not only on wildlife populations but also on human health and all aspects of our lives,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General, WWF International.
“We can’t ignore the evidence – these serious declines in wildlife species populations are an indicator that nature is unravelling and that our planet is flashing red warning signs of systems failure. From the fish in our oceans and rivers to bees which play a crucial role in our agricultural production, the decline of wildlife affects directly nutrition, food security and the livelihoods of billions of people.”
He added: “In the midst of a global pandemic, it is now more important than ever to take unprecedented and coordinated global action to halt and start to reverse the loss of biodiversity and wildlife populations across the globe by the end of the decade, and protect our future health and livelihoods. Our own survival increasingly depends on it.”
Read the full report at the dedicated WWF website.
