68% of biodiversity lost in 5 decades: Report

The planet lost 68% of its biodiversity population in the past five decades. The brunt of it was borne mostly by the freshwater species, whose population went down by a staggering 84%. And even with increased conservation efforts, an improvement seems unlikely before 2050, said the latest bi-annual ‘Living Planet Report’ released by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
“The situation in India is not much different from the global situation, something we need to be cognizant of,” said Sejal Worah, programme director of the organisation’s India unit at a pre-release briefing on Wednesday.
‘12% of wild mammals in India on extinction edge’
In India, over 12% wild mammals and 3% bird species face the threat of extinction, while 19% amphibians are threatened or critically endangered.”
The Living Planet Index mapped 21,000 populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. The patterns show wide regional variance. The Asia Pacific saw a 45% drop in biodiversity, the second biggest after Latin America and the Carribean, which lost 94%. Singled out as a particular cause of concern are freshwater species.
In the Indian context, Worah said, the situation is dire. “By 2030, water demand will be twice the availability, with 14 of 20 river basins already stressed,” she said. One-third of India’s wetlands have been lost in the past four decades.
“The human enterprise demands 1.56 times more resources than the amount that the earth can regenerate,” the report said. India’s footprint is among the lowest — less than 1.6 global hectares per person, smaller than that of many large countries.