Etuaptmumk to Preserve Biodiversity

Economics, at its core, is the study of choices that are made under the conditions of scarcity and the consequences thereof. Put differently, biodiversity and development represent those choices. Biodiversity loss and climate change are intertwined problems and a composite solution will only be sustainable. Following the lead given by the Paris Conference, biodiversity conservation should be given priority. The biodiversity loss as observed over the years is rapid, irreversible, and caused by climate change. The earth—the only life-sustaining planet—is facing threats owing to anthropogenic factors and some unavoidable practices caused by the rising pressure of population. The Living Planet Report 2022, the flagship publication of the World Wide Fund for Nature, based on the Living Planet Index (LPI), tracks the changes in abundance of wild species population across the globe. The LPI features 32,000 populations of the 5,230 species across the world and found that vertebrate wildlife populations are plummeting in tropical regions of the world. Specifically, from 1970 to 2018, the monitored wildlife mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish populations declined by 69%; freshwater populations have declined by 83%; cycads (an ancient group of seed plants) are the most threatened species; and corals are declining the fastest, followed by amphibians. The global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71% over the last 50 years primarily due to an 18-fold increased pressure on fishing from 1970.

Region-wise, the maximum decline in monitored wildlife populations is observed in Latin America and the Caribbean region (94%), followed by Africa (66%) and Asia-Pacific (55%). In Southeast Asia, the species are most likely to face the threat of a decline in wildlife populations. Polar regions, such as the east coast of Australia and South Africa, showed the highest impact probabilities for climate change driven in particular by the effect on birds. Data from the IUCN red list overlays six key threats—invasive species, logging, agri­culture, hunting and trapping, pollution, and climate change—to highlight “threat hotspots” for terrestrial vertebrates; they all are either the cause or consequence of the change in land and sea use—the single most important driver of biodiversity loss.