{"id":230619,"date":"2023-03-06T12:01:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T12:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=230619"},"modified":"2023-03-02T03:26:18","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T03:26:18","slug":"wildlife-is-much-more-than-a-safari-and-it-is-at-highest-risk-of-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/03\/wildlife-is-much-more-than-a-safari-and-it-is-at-highest-risk-of-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife Is Much More than a Safari. And It Is at Highest Risk of Extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Mar 2023 – <\/em>Wildlife is indeed far much more than a safari or an \u2018exotic\u2019 ornament: as many as four billion people \u2013or an entire half the whole world\u2019s population\u2013 rely on wild species for income, food, medicines and wood fuel for cooking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

A million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, we have lost half of the world\u2019s corals and lose forest areas the size of 27 football fields every minute, finds WWF report. Credit: Stella Paul\/IPS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In spite of that, one million species of plants and animals are already facing extinction due to the voracious profit-making, over-exploitative, illegal trade and the relentless depletion of the variety of life on Planet Earth.<\/p>\n

In fact, billions of people, both in developed and developing nations, benefit daily from the use of wild species for food, energy, materials, medicine, recreation, and many other vital contributions to human well-being, as duly reports the UN on the occasion of the 2023 World Wildlife Day (3 March).<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Much so that 50,000 wild species meet the needs of billions worldwide. And 1 in 5 people around the world rely on wild species for income and food, while 2.4 billion people depend on wood fuel for cooking.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s major multilateral body reminds us of the \u201curgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime and human-induced reduction of species, which have wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Variety of life, lost at an \u201calarming rate\u201d<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n

A world organisation leading in wildlife conservation and protection of endangered species: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF<\/a>) warns<\/a> that unfortunately, we\u2019re losing biodiversity \u2014 the rich variety of life on Earth \u2014 at an \u201calarming rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a 69% average decline in the number of birds, amphibians, mammals, fish, and reptiles since 1970, according to the 2022 Living Planet Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, we have lost half of the world\u2019s corals and lose forest areas the size of 27 football fields every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

WWF highlights<\/a> the following findings, among several others:<\/strong><\/p>\n