December 2019 BBC Wildlife 27WILDOPINION
T
heUKis officiallyoneof
themostnature-depleted
countriesintheworld- rankinganabysmal
189thoutof 218 assessed - sothefrightening
statisticsinthelatestStateof Nature
Report(TheCurrentStateofNature,
November2019)comeasnosurprise.
Wemaypurporttobea nature-loving
country,butourwildlifepopulations
continuetodecline.
Sadly,thesameis truearound
theworld.Wearewitnessingan
unprecedenteddeclineinglobal
biodiversity:ourplanethaslost 60
percent,onaverage,ofvertebrate
animalpopulations,andnearlyhalf
ofitsnaturalecosystemssince1970.
Birdsarea goodexample.It
wouldn’tbeanexaggerationtosay
thattheskiesareemptying.A recent
comprehensivesurveyestimatesthat
NorthAmericahaslosta shocking
29 percentofitsbirdpopulationsin
thesameperiod.That’salmostthree
billionfewerbirdsthanthereusedto
behalfa centuryago.Thenumbers
arebroadlycomparableinmanyparts
ofEurope– birdnumbersacross
France,forexample,havedeclined
bya thirdinthepast 15 years.
Wedon’tneedscientificsurveysto
telluswhatwecanseewithourown
eyes.Thereareconspicuouslyfewer
birdsaroundthantherewere.Butwhat
theydotellusis thatthecommoner
speciesarebeinghitthehardest.
Thisis thecruxoftheproblem.
Theramificationsofswinginga
wreckingballthroughtheEarth’s
biospherearebecomingpatently
clear:losingbillionsofindividuals
is farmoreworryingthanlosing
dozens or even hundreds of species.
MARKCARWARDINEisa frustrated and
frank conservationist.Theconservationistdiscussestheunprecedenteddeclinein
global biodiversity, and invites your thoughts on the subject.
MARK CARWARDINE
Thinkaboutit.In
anygivenecosystem,
a smallnumberof
speciesarerelatively
commonwhilea
greaternumberare
relativelyrare.The
commononesmake
upa smallproportion
ofthebiodiversity,
buttheydefinethe
structure,characteranddynamics
oftheecosystem.Theyarevitalfor
controllingpests,pollinatingflowers,
spreadingseeds,regeneratingforests,
andsoon.
Butconservationistshavebeenslow
tokeepup.It’sunderstandable,ina
way.Resourcesareseverelylimited
andwe’vehadtoprioritise.That
hasmeantfocusingonendangered
species– which,bydefinition,areat
mostriskofextinction– andpaying
lessattentiontothemorecommon
species.Andtobefair,theimpact
oncommonerspecieshasbeenless
obvious.Thereare 24 millioneastern
meadowlarks in North America, forexample,butthatapparentabundance
obscuresthefactthat 74 millionhave
alreadygone.
Nowthatwehavethecoldhard
facts,whatcanwedoaboutit?
Thetrickis tobreakit downinto
manageableparts.
TakebirdsinEurope.Most
catastrophicdeclineshavebeenon
farmland(whichisn’tsurprising,
giventhattwo-fifthsofthelandarea
is devotedtofarming).Europehas
lost 300 millionfarmlandbirdsinthe
30-yearperiod1980–2010.Farmland
birdsareinfreefall.
Theproblemis agricultural
intensificationand,inparticular,the
commonagriculturalpolicy.This
systemofsubsidiespaidtoEUfarmers- designedtoguaranteemaximum
levelsofproduction– providesa
perverseincentiveforfarmerstouse
allavailableland,andlotsofharmful
chemicals,togrowmorecrops.It is
oneofthemostpowerfuldriversof
environmentaldestructioninEurope.
Mostagricultureministersareina
stateofdenial,pushingforbusinessas
usual.Ourchallengeis toeducate
them:a thrivingnaturalenvironment
underpinsourabilitytogrowfood.All
theyhavetodois topaysubsidiesfor
protectingwildlifeandecosystems,
alongsidefoodproduction,andthe
problemcanbesolved.It is politicians
whoneedtocatchup.They’restanding
in the way of common sense.
MY WAY OF THINKING
Arthur Morris/Getty
Athriving
natural
environment
underpins
ourabilityto
grow food.S
T
WHATDOYOUTHINK?If you
wanttosupportMarkinhisviews
orshoothimdowninflames,email
[email protected]Humansarecausing
thedeclineofcommon
species,suchasthe
eastern meadowlark.