WWF Annual Review 2019 - 7

he warning signs of the deteriorating health of our
planet have continued to grow in 2019. The science has
never been clearer on the impact of human activities
on nature, with an extraordinary series of major
intergovernmental reports highlighting the unprecedented
pressure facing the natural world and the disastrous
consequences for the health of the natural systems on which
our existence and that of most life on Earth depends.
The planet is in the red. We have already lost half of our forests
and coral reefs, together with 80 per cent of wetlands. We have
dammed two-thirds of the world's long rivers. And we have
seen wildlife populations decrease on average by 60 per cent in
recent decades, with one million species now threatened with
extinction. As the dominant species on the planet, we have a
moral responsibility to tackle this planetary emergency of
almost unimaginable proportions in the name of the amazing
diversity of life we cherish and share the planet with.
But this is not only a matter of morality - nature provides
the essentials we all rely on for our survival and well-being,
including crucial emotional, health, economic, cultural and
spiritual benefits. And humanity, especially indigenous peoples
and the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities, is
already feeling the impacts of nature loss.
Business as usual is no longer an option if we are to safeguard
our future. We need to stop taking nature for granted. We need
to stop losing natural spaces and biodiversity, and expand our
efforts to protect and restore the natural world. We need to
de-couple economic development from environmental
degradation, and transform our economic and financial systems
away from today's heavy footprint and towards supporting clean
energy, green infrastructures, and sustainable agriculture,
forestry and fishing. And we need to treat nature loss, climate
change and human development as interlinking issues that
can no longer be treated in isolation.

Smoke rising
from a fire in the
Brazilian Amazon.

WWF-INT Annual Review 2019 page 7

© Brent Stirton / Getty Images / WWF

OUR CHANCE TO ACT IS NOW.
IF WE DO ALL THAT, WE CAN LOOK
FORWARD WITH HOPE, NOT FEAR.

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WWF Annual Review 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WWF Annual Review 2019