A new study for conservation group the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports an average 68 per cent fall in more than 20,000 populations of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. The result is a crisis in dysfunctional ecosystems, bereft of important pollinators, predators and scavengers, less able to support human or animal health. Changing land use and food production methods, the use of and trade in wildlife, pollution, and global warming are each contributing to this downward spiral. The WWF emphasises the close link between biodiversity and human health, wealth and food security, noting that Covid-19 is a stark reminder of how nature and humans are intertwined. This devastating report is, as its authors say, “an SOS” from nature, a cri de coeur that we must listen to or pay an even more terrible price for our greed and mismanagement of nature.

Source: The Irish Times September 13, 2020 20:48 UTC