As humans continue to conquer more forest land and plunder the seas, the wildlife population around the earth has gone into a tailspin. While it is a tragedy in itself, this cataclysmic event triggered by nature exploitation threatens to wipe out the whole civilization. Over 60% of the birds, mammals, fish, and reptiles have been wiped out, and many experts have warned that this major annihilation could wipe out mankind in the not-so-distant future.
A leading report by the World Wildlife Fund has revealed that the demand for more food and resources was causing nature exploitation and driving the destruction of the chain of life. This had been painstakingly built up over billions of years and had contributed to the clean air, water, and life itself.
Sleepwalking Over Nature Exploitation
The executive director of science and conservation at the WWF, Mike Barrett has warned that this nature exploitation was driving us slowly towards destruction. He said that the destruction of wildlife was equivalent to emptying the American continent, Africa, Europe, China, and Oceania. The scale of destruction was still not being fathomed by humanity.
He said that the time had passed about destroying the beautiful creatures in nature. At this moment we should be more worried that our actions were now threatening the destruction of mankind itself. Global Sustainability expert, Professor Johan Rockstrom, at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said that only through an immediate halt to nature exploitation could we hope to have any chance of protecting mankind in the future.
Scientists believe that we are seeing the 6the mass extinction and the first that has been brought about by a species. Half of the plant life and around 83% of the mammals have been destroyed. And it would take over 5 to 7 million years for it to recover to its past state.
Researcher Robin Freeman said that 2 decades were wasted as humanity argued over the actual impact of nature exploitation. The largest drop has been witnessed in the Caribbean and Latin America. 94% of the vertebrate wildlife population has disappeared from many regions.
Read: Mass Extinction: Explaining The Past Events And Anticipating The 6th One
The only way to reverse the trend is through immediate action in the food and agriculture sector. Deforestation should not be allowed at any cost to feed humans. Only 25% of the planet is out of bounds for humanity and those places are restricted to a few countries including Canada, Russia, Australia, and Brazil. Only a total change in perspective and an overhaul of the system by which we procure food could save us believes Sir David Attenborough.
