ANIMAL, bird and fish populations across the world have plummeted by almost a third in the past 35 years because of humans demanding too much from the planet, according to a new report.
Populations of species ranging from polar bears in Russia to African elephants in Tanzania continue to fall and international targets to stop biodiversity loss by 2010 are now "very unlikely" to be met, according to research by the wildlife charity W
WF.
Its campaigners say time is running out before a tipping point is reached when it will be too late to reverse the decline.
The research revealed that while species are suffering across the globe, humans are now consuming 25 per cent more resources than the planet can replace.
Human behaviour is causing habitats to vanish, sealife to be over-exploited and animals to be hunted to near extinction, according to the report 2010 and Beyond: Rising to the Biodiversity Challenge.
Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said: "It's a pretty gloomy picture. Clearly our impact on the planet is growing and at the same time the populations of important species around the world are declining.
"A lot of these problems are because we have got a growing population and growing need for food and resources and there's often a competition between needing resources and biodiversity."
He said the global nature of the problem made it difficult for individual governments to address the crisis.
But he was hopeful progress was being made, particularly in terms of agreements made at the Bali meeting of the International Panel on Climate Change last year, and because of the attitudes of the US election candidates to the environment.
"We are on the brink. We have got to get this right or it's going to be too late and we will have really stuffed it up."
The charity has been tracking nearly 4,000 populations of species across the planet since 1970, and every two years reports on their progress.
The most recent figures, published today, found that overall populations of all species had declined by 27 per cent. Marine birds have been particularly hard hit, dropping by 30 per cent since the mid-1990s.
Colin Butfield, head of campaigns at WWF-UK, said: "Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives so it is alarming that, despite an increased awareness of environmental issues, we continue to see a downward trend. However, there are small signs for hope and if government grasps what is left of this rapidly closing window of opportunity, we can begin to reverse this trend."
The research looked at 241 species of fish, 83 amphibians, 40 reptiles, 811 birds and 302 mammals. It revealed that land-based species fell by 25 per cent, marine species by 28 per cent and freshwater species by 29 per cent between 1970 and 2005.
The study blames the drop in biodiversity on loss of habitat, over-exploitation due to activities such as fishing and hunting, pollution, the spread of invasive species and climate change – which all stem from human demands on the planet.
James Leape, the WWF director general, said: "Reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease and where water is in irregular or short supply.
"No-one can escape the impact of biodiversity loss because reduced global diversity translates quite clearly into fewer new medicines, greater vulnerability to natural disasters and greater effects from global warming."
WWF has published the report just before the start of the Convention of Biological Diversity in Bonn on Monday.
It is calling on governments to use the conference to take urgent action to fulfil the commitment to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
SwordfishNUMBERS of a group of swordfish in the north Atlantic studied by WWF fell dramatically.
They dropped from 34,000 tonnes of spawning stock in 1978, to just 8,000 in the most recent survey.
Not only are they being fished unsustainably, sharks are also being caught in nets intended for swordfish and their numbers are also being put under threat.
The swordfish, along with the marlin, is the fastest fish in the ocean, capable of reaching speeds of 120kmh in quick bursts.
ChimpanzeeWWF has been tracking a community of chimpanzees in Ivory Coast. Numbers have fallen from 74 to 33 since monitoring began. Chimps live in a variety of habitats in central and western Africa, but they are under threat.
The chief threat to the chimp's survival is loss of its forest habitat, much of which is being destroyed for timber and converted into farmland.
In West Africa, bushmeat hunters pursue chimpanzees relentlessly. Even though the animals are legally protected in some countries, the laws are often ineffective.
Atlantic salmonA SHOAL of Atlantic salmon in Norway was part of the study by WWF. Numbers plummeted from 20 juveniles per 100 square metres in 1978 to just five per 100sq m in 1995.
Numbers have since picked up again, to 29 juveniles per 100sq m.
Among major threats to wild salmon populations is commercial salmon farming, which threatens to erode the gene pool through inter-breeding with escapees.
Climate change is also increasingly suspected of affecting the salmon at sea and is a major priority for action.
Polar bearA POPULATION of polar bears in Russia has been tracked by WWF. Since the research started numbers have fallen from four dens per 100 square metres to three.
This week the US government declared the polar bear a threatened species.
The acceleration of the shrinking of Arctic ice continues to threaten the survival of these animals. Scientists predict that the numbers of polar bears will fall by about a third, if sea ice in the Arctic continues to melt at its present rate.
As well as climate change, pollution, oil development, over-harvesting and shipping are all threats to the polar bear. Polar bears are the largest predators that live on land and are twice as big as a lion.
African elephantA STUDY of a group of African elephants in Tanzania has seen their numbers fall from 6,460 to 2,360.
International demand for ivory caused a catastrophic decline in African elephant populations in the 1970s and 80s. Poaching resulted in the population falling from an estimated 1.3 million animals in 1970 to just 600,000 by 1989.
The elephant's habitat has shrunk as it has been used for farming. Human-elephant conflicts – where elephants trample crops and damage infrastructure in search of food – are increasing.
Resources warningIF EVERYONE used the world's resources at the rate we do in the UK we would need three planets to support us, according to WWF.
As well as measuring the biodiversity of species across the globe, the charity also tracks the "ecological footprint" of countries.
It bases the footprint on the natural resources used to live and the amount of carbon emissions generated.
Worldwide, humans now consume 25 per cent more resources than the planet can replace.
This compares with 1961, when mankind used onlyhalf of the planet's resources.
WWF's research shows humanity's "footprint" first grew larger than capacity in the 1980s and has been increasing ever since.
The report says our overuse of the planet's resources is due to factors such as the demands for food, energy and materials, and the replacement of natural ecosystems with towns and cities.
The US has the biggest ecological footprint, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Sweden and Canada. The UK is 14th on the list.
The charity has launched a One Planet Future Campaign, with the aim of helping people live a good quality of life while remaining within the Earth's capacity.
