Wildlife populations are falling fast, but ‘this generation can still turn the tide’

Compare the current state of biodiversity with clothing, says Liesje Mommer. “It’s as if we’re wearing clothes that are getting smaller and smaller and worn down to the thread. We’ll be in our shirts soon.” Mommer, who has become a ‘figurehead of biodiversity’ as a professor of plant ecology and nature management at Wageningen University, reacts to bad news about nature. Again. This time about the number of wild animals. Mommer: “My kids, ages thirteen and eleven, read it on their phones this morning and said, ‘Mama, what’s going on here?’ I am very worried, as a mother and also as a scientist.”

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports in its biannual Living Planet Report that populations of wild mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish declined by an average of 69 percent between 1970 and 2018. The largest decrease was in tropical areas and fresh waters, especially in Latin America, with no less than 94 percent. Europe and Central Asia seem to be coming off mercifully with a decline of ‘just’ 18 percent, but that’s just a sham. “The decline there started well before 1970,” reports a WWF spokesperson.

‘Double emergency’

The figures come from the ‘living planet index’, which tracks changes in 32,000 populations of 5,230 animal species. The report “confirms that the planet is in the midst of a biodiversity and climate crisis,” the researchers write. We have “one last chance” to get out of this “double emergency.” “We need system-wide changes in how we produce and consume, the technology we use, and our economic and financial systems.”

The causes of the loss of biodiversity among animals are large-scale deforestation for agriculture, overfishing, poaching, pollution and construction of buildings and roads.

But climate change also plays an important role, the report says: “If we are not able to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, climate change is likely to become the main cause of biodiversity loss in the coming decades.”

Declining biodiversity and climate change are ‘two sides of the same coin’. Action is required. “What we do now and in the coming years is crucial. We are approaching several tipping points,” said the WWF. “The point at which major changes are initiated that cannot be reversed.”

Marker Wadden

It is true that there are regular successes; in the Netherlands, for example, the otter has made a comeback. The wolf is also making a comeback. It was announced this week that the Marker Wadden, a recently created group of islands in the Markermeer, has attracted 47 breeding birds and 170 plant species, including long-tailed duck, pygmy gull and corncrake.

Conservation programs in Africa have led to an increase in mountain gorilla numbers, and loggerhead turtle nests have increased by 500 percent in 15 years in Cyprus. This goes against the global trend, according to the WWF, with examples of the decline of the lowland gorilla in Africa, the pink river dolphin in Brazil and the Australian sea lion.

Recovery possible

Professor Mommer draws hope from nature restoration projects such as the Marker Wadden and in the tropics, but also from stricter regulations such as those of the European Commission’s Green Deal. “There is a realization that this generation can still turn the tide, and more and more people in important positions are also taking responsibility for this. People often think that biodiversity is vague, but it is the basis of our lives: the flowers and the bees, our food, clean air and fertile soil, the protection against diseases. We have a duty to remain optimistic. If we take gigantic steps now, I believe it is still possible. If we give nature space, recovery is possible. Fortunately, nature is forgiving.”

The WWF advocates eating meat or fish at most once or twice a week, buying mainly local and sustainably produced products and following a varied menu. Mommer agrees: “Fewer than 10 crops make up 70 percent of our diet,” she says. In general, we must “take responsibility” in both personal and professional life.

Mommer: “If we care about the survival of the tiger and the panda bear, and the future of our children, we will have to eat less meat and fly less. Companies must also make sustainable decisions. We all need to do something, recognizing that every day we are exceeding the limits of what our planet can handle. What I notice is that the young generation is saying: stop doing that, arrange this. Justly.”