India Will Lose Half Its Wildlife By 2020 According To WWF Report

In a less than shocking revelation, The Living Planet Report 2016 stated that  nearly half of India’s wildlife is at the risk of being completely wiped out. The report, which published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) states that the shocking numbers were expected  due to large-scale unsustainable human activities which is putting pressure on the land and water resources in the country. The biennial report, which was subtitled “Risk and Resilience in a New Era”  tracks over 14,000 vertebrate populations of over 3,700 species

The Hindustan Times reports that nearly 70% of surface water and groundwater is reaching the a critical stage where it cannot be replenished. Industrial and municipal waste are the biggest causes of this contamination. The report also pointed out that one-fourth of India’s total land is facing desertification and about a third of land is will be detrimentally affected by depleting forest cover. All these factors point to the quickly dwindling numbers of indigenous species.

Huffington Post reports that it is not just India but a large portion of the world that faces a sharp  decrease in wildlife populations. At the current rate of decline which is about 2% annually, almost two-thirds of the world’s wildlife population will be extinct by 2020. The populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles have already declined by 58% between 1970 and 2012.While the African elephant, leatherback turtle, gharial and the Asian tiger feature in the list of ‘most vulnerable’.

The report adds that India’s record for conservation is poor at best. For instance, there were 83 tigers reported to be killed in 2016 so far which exceeds 2015’s figures of 77.

Ravi Singh, secretary general and CEO, WWF-India told Huffington Post, “Our consumption patterns and the way we look at our natural world are constantly shaping the future of our planet…We need to come together as a global community and address the threats to biodiversity to protect our environment, as well as our economic and social structures.”

Wildlife conservation is easier said than done and it is high time that government took notice of how dire the situation is becoming. Efforts need to be taken by individuals, companies and the government to take the route to becoming more environmentally sustainable. If not, it is clear that we face the very high risk of losing not just our animal population and of compromising our entire ecosystem and that is not a trivial matter that we can leave to chance.

Image Courtesy of www.hindustantimes.com