Shrinking biodiversity

The World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Living Planet Report-2022 has shown a massive 69 per cent decline in wildlife populations across the globe during the 1970-2018 period. This staggering rate of downfall is yet another reaffirmation of the fact that our planet is in the throes of a biodiversity crisis. At the same time, this acute disruption in the ecosystem should serve as a wake-up call to the world for taking a renewed pledge to redouble efforts for arresting the downward spiral and preventing the endangered species from going extinct. It is crucial for the survival of all forms of life on Earth. Undoubtedly, rampant overexploitation of the limited natural resources over the past 50 years by humans — in the name of development — is the main driver of this humongous loss.

In India, the report points out, 137 km of the Sundarbans mangrove forest have been eroded since 1985, which has resulted in a reduction in the benefits provided by the ecosystem to 10 million residents of the area. Also, the country’s rivers have been counted among 73 per cent of the over 1,000-km-long rivers of the globe that are no longer free-flowing and, thus, raise the risk of migration of fish. Equally worrisome is the decreasing population of honeybees and 17 species of freshwater turtles in India.

It is clear that the nations have failed to make sufficient progress in switching over to a sustainable mode of living designed to halt the catastrophic slide. The relentless strain on the flora and fauna and their habitats in pursuit of short-term goals and polluting industrialisation have pushed the people dependent on agriculture, fishing and forestry to the brink. This has jeopardised the other aim which is crucial to protecting biodiversity: that of reducing carbon emissions so as to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The rising temperature spells doom, with the climate change-induced extreme weather events likely to becoming the dominant cause of biodiversity loss in the coming decades. Policy-makers must step up conservation and restoration efforts to mitigate the crisis before it is too late.