Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 6 • Number 19 • 3rd November 2006

Humans Overdrawing on Earth’s Resources, WWF Reports

Do More

Subscribe to the BioRes

* Required Field

Email Address: *

Country: *

Employment Sector (Academia, Govt., Private Sector, NGO, IGO): *

First Name:

Last Name:

Organisation:

Enter the letters shown above:*

Download this issue

Volume 6 Number 19 PDF • 0.23 MB

In 2003, humanity was using up natural resources 1.25 times faster than Earth could replenish them, while the biodiversity of vertebrate species populations has declined by 30 percent since 1970. These trends are detailed in the “Living Planet Report 2006″, a biennial publication that assesses humanity’s impact on natural resources and global biodiversity, released jointly by global conservation group WWF and the Global Footprint Network on 24 October.

The report uses two indicators to assess these trends: the ecological footprint, which measures human demand on various ecosystems; and the Living Planet Index, which measures the health of those ecosystems.

According to the report, the United Arab Emirates has the largest footprint per person, followed by the US, Finland, Canada and Kuwait. Regardless of size, however, the report finds that almost no country today meets the sustainable development ideals of having both a high quality of life and an average footprint that does not exceed the biological capacity available per person on the planet. The footprint of a country includes the cropland, grazing land, forest and fishing grounds it uses to produce the food, fiber and timber it consumes, to absorb the wastes it produces, and to provide space for its infrastructure. “Humanity’s footprint has more than tripled between 1961 and 2003,” the report said. The fastest-growing part of the footprint is due to fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions, which have increased more than nine fold from 1961 to 2003, and now comprise nearly half of the total global footprint.

The Living Planet Index tracked trends from 1970 to 2003 in over 3,600 populations of more than 1,300 vertebrate species from around the world, dividing them into terrestrial, marine or freshwater species, and further into temperate or tropical zones. The report found that while tropical species declined by 55 percent on average, temperate species have shown little change since 1970. While there has been a greater than 25 percent average decline in marine biodiversity around the globe, this decline is much more dramatic in the Indian/Southeast Asian and Southern Oceans.

WWF and the Global Footprint Network called on both developed and developing countries alike to make political decisions with ecological limits in mind, and to begin by generating and using energy in cleaner, more environmentally-friendly ways.

To access the report visit http://www.panda.org/news_facts/publications/key_publications/living_planet_report/index.cfm

“Human Footprint Too Big for Nature,” WORLD-WIRE, 24 October 2006; “Humans Living Far Beyond Planet’s Means-WWF,” REUTERS, 25 October 2006; “Living Planet Report: Humanity Overdrawn on Nature’s Credit,” ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE, 24 October 2006.