According to the Living Planet 2020 report, published on September 10, which measures the state of global biodiversity, human activity has severely degraded three quarters of the land and 40% of the oceans.
The annual report of the WWF and the Zoological Society of London points to rampant deforestation and the expansion of agriculture as the two main factors that led to the 68% decline in the wild animal population between 1970 and 2016. According to the same report, the decline in biodiversity increases the risk of future pandemics, while the human presence is constantly expanding in wild areas.
France 24 spoke with Marco Lambertini, Director General of the NGO WWF International, about the growing destruction of biodiversity and the solutions to be provided to reverse the trend.
France 24: Many reports have warned about the disappearance of species, were you surprised by the scale of the phenomenon revealed today?
Marco Lambertini:
I was shocked but not surprised.
The decrease is so great that it is hard to believe that it took place in such a short period, when these species have been around for millions of years.
Perhaps the surprise comes from the fact that despite the many warnings, the trend is still negative and is even accelerating.
It is shocking and sad, because it reflects a moral failure vis-à-vis the forms of life around us.
But a new message is emerging that is, in my opinion, a beacon of hope: We are starting to pay attention to these numbers and concern is growing.
A significant cultural change is underway;
little by little, sadness gives way to worry.
The same phenomenon happened a few years ago with the climate.
It is therefore to be hoped that this growing concern will lead to the start of action.
Does the will to preserve nature today result from a moral duty or from a struggle for human survival?
I think that today more and more people understand that these two aspects are essential.
Many people are still frightened, and rightly so, by the ecocidal action of man.
As a dominant species, humans abuse nature in an unacceptable way.
At the same time, we are starting to realize that we are going to pay the price.
The planet will survive one way or another, biodiversity will reappear.
But the survival of our societies remains a question, which generates enormous anguish vis-à-vis our children.
Especially since the horizon we are talking about here does not extend over hundreds of years but dozens.
How did we get to this stage? Is it the human being who did not want to admit that his survival depended on nature?
There is an opposition between the anthropocentric and the biocentric view of the world.
The first places Man at the center of everything, while the second assigns him a protective role and implies a control of human activity.
But there is a deeper cause, almost genetic I would say.
Like other species, humans have evolved by facing a hostile environment for most of their history.
We have developed a hunter-gatherer approach to survive on a daily basis, like most species.
Today, there are nearly 8 billion of us on Earth and have developed technological tools with enormous destructive potential.
We must therefore change our relationship with the planet;
stop using resources without thinking about the consequences in order to learn how to manage them wisely.
Of course, inequalities create huge disparities in terms of environmental footprint.
Some consume far beyond the planet's resources, while others barely manage to feed themselves.
But the destruction of nature first affects the poorest.
Richer communities are more resilient to ecological impact, while those who depend directly on nature, such as subsistence farmers, will find themselves in difficulty much faster.
Has the coronavirus pandemic raised awareness of the environmental threat in a more explicit way?
In this tragic situation, perhaps we need to see a lesson for humans: Deforestation and animal consumption put us at risks that are simply not worth it.
The statistics speak for themselves;
60% of emerging diseases that pose a pandemic risk come from human interaction with nature.
It's a safe bet that the next pandemic will again be caused by one of these zoonotic diseases [transmitted from animals to humans].
So, yes the awareness grew.
In our study in Asia in December 2019, shortly after the arrival of Covid-19, between 70% and 90% of those questioned said they were in favor of closing live wild animal markets.
For our part, we are doing everything to make people aware of this threat.
In our globalized world, these markets represent too great a danger.
How can we turn this awareness into concrete action?
We must ensure that the billions of dollars invested in reviving the economy after the pandemic promote a green turn for agriculture, forestry, as well as all sectors that contribute to the destruction of nature.
We also need stricter regulations on the trade and consumption of wild animals.
I am speaking here of trade and not of subsistence consumption by indigenous communities.
Next year, we will have the opportunity to set international targets for nature protection, as we did for the climate in Paris [at the 2015 Paris Conference on Climate Change].
The French government is very involved and it is necessary that other States show ambition during this United Nations convention.
The objective must be to stop and reverse the decline in biodiversity, that is to say of natural spaces and wild species, by 2030.
How can we reverse the decline in biodiversity?
We know exactly how!
Especially since the evolution of science allows us today to fully understand the issues and solutions.
With political, societal and economic awareness, the time has come to establish strong goals in three key areas.
The first is better protection of natural habitats.
We are now protecting 15% of the land and 8% of the oceans, when these figures should reach at least 30%.
Then, we must regulate the trade in terrestrial wildlife as well as overfishing.
Finally, and this step is the most difficult, it is necessary to change the ecocidal economic engines towards more ecological models.
Agriculture must move away from deforestation and reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers.
The fishing sector must allow fishery resources to regenerate and put an end to the destruction of marine ecosystems.
There remains mining, logging and construction.
These areas can apply much greener measures.
It suffices to use the appropriate technological tools and apply binding regulations with financial incentives for them to be respected.
Twenty years ago, everyone thought that it would be impossible to replace fossil fuel with clean energy.
Today we are there;
clean energy has become cheaper than fossil fuel.
This can therefore apply to other sectors.
Original article by Benjamin Dodman published on the English-speaking site of France 24 and translated from English by David Rich
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