New Scientist - USA (2021-02-20)

38 | New Scientist | 20 February 2021

ECOSYSTEM INTACTNESS

PROTECTED AREAS

Extinction rates tell us about

the fates of individual species,

but they don’t capture the effects

of humanity’s land grab on

functional diversity, a measure

of overall ecosystem health.

One attempt to do so is the

Living Planet Index, produced by

the WWF in association with the

Zoological Society of London.

It is computed using the size

of 20,811 populations of 4392

species of mammals, birds,

fishes, reptiles and amphibians

from terrestrial, freshwater

One success story is the

proportion of land important

for biodiversity that has some

form of protection. This has

been growing across the world.

The Netherlands Environmental

Assessment Agency added

up existing commitments

Liv

ing

Pl

an

et

In

de

x

Vertebrate abundance

1970 1980 2016

-68%

1990 2000 2010

0

1

2

Ye a r

Av

era

ge

ab

un

da

nc

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f^ s

pe

cie

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s^ p

erc

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e^ i

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Loss of species richness

1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000

0

70

80

90

100

Ye a r

Europe

Africa

Americas

Asia Pacific

Global

Total global commitments to

ecosystem restoration

Restore forest land

Increase forest land

Increase soil fertility

Restore cropland

Restore grassland/savannah

Restore protected areas

Increase protected areas

Restore multiple functions

Restore multiple land use

Other/general/unspecified

Million square kilometres

Total

Ye a r^02468

Pe

rc

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ta

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o

f^ k

ey

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iv

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ar

ea

s*

p

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te

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ed

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

0

20

40

60

80

Protection of areas rich in biodiversity

High-

income

Mincomiddle-e

Low-income

World

* Key biodiversity areas are sites identified as contributing significantly to global terrestrial, freshwater or marine biodiversity

to restoration projects in 115

countries and found that they

come to about 10 million square

kilometres, roughly the size of

China, or just under 7 per cent

of total world land surface area.

How that squares with reality on

the ground is another question.

and marine habitats around the

world. The 2020 update shows

that, since 1970, the global

abundance of vertebrates

has declined by 68 per cent.

The Biodiversity Intactness

Index is an alternative measure

of how much of pre-industrial

biodiversity remains. This is

seen as severely damaged if

the number is below 90 per cent

(in other words, a loss of more

than 10 per cent of biodiversity).

The global figure is currently

79 per cent, and falling.

SOURCE: IPBES GLOBAL ASSESSMENT REPORT ON

BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

SOURCE: PBL NETHERLANDS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AGENCY,

GOALS AND COMMITMENTS FOR THE RESTOR ATION DECADE

SOURCE: WWF/ZSL LIVING PLANET REPORT 2020

SOURCE: WWF/ZSL LIVING PLANET REPORT 2020

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