Recent reports paint a stark picture of the challenges our planet’s wildlife faces today. The World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2024 sounds a chilling alarm: there has been a catastrophic 73% decline in monitored wildlife populations over the past 50 years. Freshwater species have been hit even harder, facing a staggering 85% decline. This isn’t just a statistic – it’s a signal that our ecosystems, the lifeblood of this planet, are in peril.
What’s behind this drastic decline? Habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change all have a hand in it. Forests are cleared, wetlands drained, and oceans overfished, squeezing out countless species from the homes they have evolved to thrive in. Overexploitation – whether it is overhunting, illegal poaching, or unsustainable fishing – drains natural resources, tilting the delicate balance that wildlife relies on to survive. Climate change, meanwhile, is the insidious force accelerating this decline, reshaping habitats faster than species can adapt.
These statistics may seem overwhelming, but they are also a call to action. We need to recognise that our connection with nature is not just a romantic notion – it’s a partnership. And right now, that partnership is in trouble. Supporting conservation efforts, protecting habitats, and addressing the root causes of climate change are not abstract goals; they are necessary steps if we want to halt, and hopefully reverse, this alarming decline.
It’s up to each of us to act, to be stewards of the natural world rather than its exploiters. Because the fate of wildlife and our own well-being are more intertwined than we often realise – their struggle is our struggle, too.
#WildlifeDecline #SaveNature #BiodiversityCrisis #LivingPlanet #ConservationMatters #ClimateAction #ProtectHabitats #NaturePositive #WildlifeConservation #ActForWildlife #HabitatLoss #EcosystemProtection
5 responses to “Shrinking Biodiversity: The Impact of Human Actions on Wildlife.”
There is little doubt that our planet is in serious trouble. Biodiversity is shrinking faster than many still fail to accept. In my lifetime (I am 87) I have seen the slow changes taking place. My home, once a small Victorian town surrounded by green open spaces, common land with mature woodland and farm land, largely gone, built on, and a town centre resembling Manhattan with enormous tower blocks. Huge area of beautiful mixed deciduous woodland, and an area some 28 square miles, once marshland was built on to house those in London who had lost their homes to the blitz. While this was laudable, it was the first of many incursions into green belt land.
More recently about 50 acres of dedicated green belt, has been built on with over 100 detached houses, in spite of local opposition. The wildlife corridors and the areas they supported are fractured and once bursting with life are now almost a blank canvas. Every living thing is affected, apart seemingly, from scavengers, Mammals, birds and especially insects, so important in the food chain. I cannot remember the last time I had to clean flies off my car windscreen, or saw a dead hedgehog in the road. I though of it as the first sign of spring but traffic has now all but wiped out this small creature, which some thought was learning to avoid roads. I ran a wildlife rescue hospital as part of my duties as a lecturer in Animal Sience at my local college. At the time we had a room dedicated to hedgehogs often 20 or more receiving care. By the time I retired, they were a rare visitor.
I have lifed in my current home for 54 years and watched the birdlife disappear. I can now count the species that visit almost on one hand. I no longer see any finches, wagtails, goldcrests, even starlings. Swifts 50 years ago numbered in their hundreds, were down to three this summer. Except for one pair of Blackbirds, all the thrushes, including the winter visitors, fieldfare and redwings which fed on the pyracantha berries, now exclusively enjoyed by the ubiquitous wood pigeon. are gone. I still have house sparrows until recently a flock of about 70 to 100 with two broods coming to me feeders, now number around 20. Occasional blue tits, great tits and wrens. No longer any coal tits. and autumnal passing families of long-tailed tits. Robins, once two or three pairs divided their territory’s with clear demarkation points are reduced to one.
Yet we are introduced Red Kites which are prospering, Soon we will have Black Kites. There has already been a Red/Black breeding, a precursor perhaps.
To my joy as a falconer/bird of prey enthusiast the Peregrine falcon is making a remarkable comeback on it own. There are now several pairs in Surrey, including my town where they have successfully bred for 25 years. However, numbers are still quite low which brings me to retaining the purity of the species. A recent film showed a female peregrine breeding in Scotland with a captive bred Peregine/Lanner hybrid. This is not the first and will surely not be the last time.
Thousands of hybrids are being captive bred now and lost birds are nearly all fertile. Mating and production of young will happen again diluting the purity of our wild falcons. It was, I believe, irresponsible to allow this pair to produce two young, undisturbed. They are mate and site faithful and will do it again.
What I do see both in my garden and all around, are magpies, crows, pigeons, although no collared doves, and in the past two years – jackdaws, which appear to have a population explosion.
International meeting of politicians pay lip service to the problem but one thing we never hear is. How can we reduce the only thriving species – humans? we see the problem but do not respond. Whilst I find it rather sad, having traced my family back to 1664. I have two daughters both married but with no children. Rather by accident than design my immediate family will end with them. Maybe that is my contribution to the problem. But I suspect war and pestilence will be the eventual outcome
Graham Wellstead
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Thank you, Graham, for such a heartfelt and eye-opening reflection. Your words capture so well the quiet but relentless loss of nature that often slips past us unnoticed – until, as you say, we realise the birds are missing, the hedgehogs are gone, and the once-lush woodlands are fragmented and silent (spring). It’s a tragedy to see spaces that held so much life transformed so quickly.
Yet, even amidst this decline, your story reminds us of the resilience of certain species, like the Red Kites and Peregrines, which are making their way back with our help. It’s a small but hopeful sign that, with care and dedication, we can create pockets of recovery. There’s so much that needs to be done on a larger scale, yes, but even small efforts – re-wilding our gardens, planting for pollinators, protecting what green space we can – make a difference.
Thank you for sharing your experience and passion. If more of us can connect with nature as you have, we might just begin to turn the tide and restore a bit of the richness that’s been lost. One can only hope. Simon
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Climate change debate.
First of all I totally agree 100% with Graham Wellsead who reflects entirely my experience in the decline of our wildlife.
However, it is time to address the contentious idea of Climate Change and what that really mean?
After all ‘ natural’ Climate Change is no big deal….weather, climates do change over time that is the nature of things. It always has done and always will do so…what is the big deal.
These two words are thrown around when the environment and other problems to nature and humanity are mentions.
There is no doubt that humans have poisoned the world with pesticides and polluted the water supply. Waste plastics in the environment. Building on sensitive green sites and sites liable to flood. Concrete poured over fertile ground. Animals killed by hunting, culling or by accidents (road kill). Removing hedges, trees and a wide variety of natural habitats. No question. Bye the way mostly pollutants are thanks to scientists.. the profession we are supposed to trust.
So what has climate change got to do with it? Well it is confusing (I think made deliberately so) by using a combination of scientific fiction, half truths and political manipulation.
In fact political manipulations for expressed and identity objectives, often of a sinister malevolent nature, goes back at least to the 1960’s originating from the Club of Rome. Man made ‘climate science’ is a club of Rome psychological operation. Quoting from Club of Rome statements….’in searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that…the threat of global warming…would fit the bill…the real enemy, then, is humanity itself…’
These are the same Think Tank who a few years ago published a report The Club of Rome Climate Emergency Plan.
As can be seen this was a very deliberately plan, plot or scam to manipulate society to believe that the climate is in danger from human kind or activity to justify social change, social control to bring about a one world unelected technocracy to benefits a small number of elites in their attempt to control energy and resources.
The bought and paid for media are complicit in this endeavour. They are often caught silencing critics for example, ‘the science is settled’ and ‘most scientists agreed with it’. While putting out fake, gaslighter or manipulated data fro example from BBC weather temperatures……
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/11/05/science-shock-u-k-met-office-is-inventing-temperature-data-from-100-non-existent-stations/
The science is settled…really….surly science is never settled, that is science. In fact Climate Change science is not science at all as it does not fulfil the requirements of the scientific method that is…observation of a natural phenomena (man made problems are not a natural phenomena), so what are the dependant and independent variable and what about a control group or study? No these are not present and not possible. Climate change research is all about observation and modelling…this is not science.
It is said the problem is green houses gases or co2 emissions… Really. Co2 is the gas of life without it the world comes to an end….is that what is really wanted? See…….
“CO2 , The Gas of Life”-Dr. William Happer
Weather manipulation, weather modification also described as weather wars have been taking place for a great many years. Weather manipulation was used by the US during the Vietnam war. Since then the military industrial complex have been working on these projects and sometime ago predicted that they would be able to totally control the weather including storms, hurricanes and earth quakes by 2025. They are already there, utilising the work of Nicholas Tesla in various bases such as HARRP and other complements facilities thought out the world.
Although openly acknowledged by governments with information available online for those who wish to do the research but in fact the controlled media are silent on the matter and therefore most of the general pubic are totally unaware of these developments and likely would find it hard to believe.
See a 15 min interview by a whistleblower who worked in such a facility on Antarctica……
This interview lays it all out very clearly. These are energy weapons that are being described.
These technologies could be used for good purpose but mostly, so far, they are not. Most recent example of the use of weather manipulation has been used as punishment against uncooperative leaders or regimes and further land control.
‘He who controls the weather control the world’, from a speech by Lyndon B Johnson in 1962…….
https://archive.org/embed/he-who-controls-the-weather-will-control-the-world-lyndon-b-johnson.
Many recent examples include energy weapons used to fire ball in Maui.
Earth quake in Turkey after its president Erdogan voted against proposals put forward by NATO. Mostly recently powerful hurricanes in Taiwan following its defiance towards China.
Now in Valencia Spain. Here we have an annual storm seasons. The Spanish government, a day before the massive floods happened, withdrew a billion dollar arms deal with Israel due to Spain’s objection and criticism of Israel’s genocide in Palestine. You don’t upset Israel and its backers without suffering the consequences.
However the ground was prepared in advance, as is often the case, several years earlier, for various obscure reasons the government removed upstream hundreds of dams and reservoirs which was originally put on place to protect the lower land from flooding…
So we have it, land prepared in advance (this preplanning happen in the case of Maui) to enhance the prospect of disaster combined with the annual rainy season making it easy to use energy waves to amplify a storm to cause maximum devastation.
So why? Ask those who are involved but here are some possibilities….to promote the climate emergency falsehood, force inhabitants off their land, other wise know as land grab to access scare resources, create 15 minute cities, depopulation etc.
Man made weather is an important issues as much of present day weather is being manipulated but to blame CO2 emissions seeks to confuse and redirect attention from what is the real cause to justify the introduction of the green agenda. Calling it a Climate Emergency, a fear campaign promoting the idea that we are doomed. Introducing expansive measures to combat a fictitious enemy. Implementing suicidal policies (a suicide note for humanity as Neil Oliver calls it) which are certain to damage mankind as a whole.
In fact global warming, climate emergency has become big business, like so many other frauds perpetrated on humanity. This makes push back much harder but push back we must and say a firm NO.
Rob Downing
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Thank you, Rob, for your perspective. It’s clear we both share a concern for wildlife and the need to address pollution, habitat destruction, and other environmental issues.
On climate change, it’s true that natural fluctuations in climate have always existed. However, the scientific consensus suggests that the current rate of change, largely driven by human activities, is unprecedented. This rapid shift is an issue because nature cannot adapt quickly enough, putting many species and ecosystems at risk.
While media and political influence can sometimes make climate issues seem sensational, much of climate science is grounded in decades of research across fields. And while none of us will live long enough to know who’s ultimately right, I believe in being tolerant of others’ views—as long as that tolerance is mutual. If we want people to hear our arguments, we must also listen to theirs. In the end, some things remain incontrovertible, such as wildlife declines, and that’s where we should surely all share the same concerns.
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Thank you. Very good!
Best wishes
John and Margaret
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