WWF publishes an alarming report on the disappearance of species

Populations of wild vertebrates have declined by 69% in 50 years. Depending on the region, the results are mixed: – 18% in Europe and Central Asia, – 20% in North America, – 55% in Asia and the Pacific, – 66% in Africa, and up to – 94% in Latin America and in the Caribbean. Among the 5,200 species listed by the WWF, the leatherback turtle from Guyana has almost disappeared in 20 years. “We observed nesting turtles, west of French Guiana, of more than 1,000 individuals each year, 20, 25 years ago. Today, there are ten. So we’re really, here, on a complete collapse“, observes Arnaud Gauffier, program director of WWF France.

As often, the causes are multiple: illegal overfishing, beach erosion or even rising temperatures. The only responsible is the man. Human activity continues to destroy ecosystems. Freshwater has reached critical danger levels, with an 83% drop in its overall population. “It is an indicator of the pressure we are putting on our river systems. It is a consequence of pollution, of the irrigation used to cultivate, but also of the dams built in the rivers, which block the migration of the species which must go up the rivers to reproduce.“, explains Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International. The report is supposed to challenge politicians at COP27, scheduled for November, and COP 15 on biodiversity, in December.