Photo: Contributed
By: Dwight Links
According to the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) latest Living Planet Report for this year, Africa recorded an average 80% decline in the size of monitored vertebrate wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022.
“The findings point to the severe pressure on nature across the continent, but the report also shows that recovery is possible when conservation is sustained, communities have a direct stake and the systems driving nature loss begin to change,” WWF’s Solani Mhango, director for conservation impact for Africa explained during the webinar that presented the findings of the report at the start of October.
Mhango explained that the Living Planet Index (LPI), produced by the Zoological Society of London, draws on almost 35,803 species population trends covering 5,790 vertebrate species globally.
Mhango was quick to point out that the regional averages differed in relation to the collective larger percentage of the world, and that these were only for species that were observed.
“The 80% figure for Africa reflects the cumulative average proportional change in the sizes of monitored animal populations at sites across the region. It does not mean that Africa has lost 80% of all individual wild animals or 80% of its wildlife species,” Mhango clarified.
According to the LPI, there has been a stark 73% decline globally in the average size of monitored wildlife populations over the referenced 52-year period.
For other regions, the report states that North America registered an average decline of 28%, while Europe and Central Asia registered a decline of 23%.
The steepest declines in monitored wildlife populations were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (95%), Africa (80%) and Asia–Pacific (49%).
“Across the world, habitat loss and degradation remain the most frequently reported threats affecting monitored wildlife populations, followed by overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species and disease. These pressures are driven by wider failures in the food, energy and finance systems,” the report outlines the main causes that were documented.
Positive Examples
Despite the overall negative trend, around half of the populations included in the global LPI are stable or increasing.
The report highlights recoveries involving green turtles, bluefin tuna, tigers and some populations of southern African elephants, which demonstrates that clear goals, adaptable plans, sustained action and long-term resilience can produce measurable results.
Michael Knight from Kavango Zambezi Transboundary leader for the WWF in Namibia, provided insights into why the southern African elephant population was thriving.
“293 000 elephants is a considerable number. Focusing on the KAZA population – the elephant population there is 227 000 strong. This is more than 50% of Africa’s savannah elephants in one area,” Knight said.
Knight described what factors have allowed this animal group to thrive is that they have swatches of territory to move in, and across parts of five countries in the region.
“This is everything about scale, corridors and connectivity. This is actually the conservation outcomes of this population. But, what has made this so successful, firstly has been the government support,” Knight highlighted.
He described how Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe agreed to collectively conserve this species through a treaty and an agreement. Knight cited that the nations identified that the elephant population is an asset in the region.
The KAZA secretariat was established out of this treaty and according to Knight is partially funded by these five nations.
“Across the five countries, you can see that they have robust law enforcement and enabling legislation in the region. And at the heart of that is community conservation, “ Knight stated.
Yvonne Godo, WWF Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said that there is clear evidence that correction and recovery can be implemented.
“Recovery is possible, but it must work for people as well as wildlife. Wildlife recovery is not the end of the story; it is the beginning of a new responsibility. The question is not whether recovery is possible, but whether we can create a future in which people and wildlife thrive together,” she added.
African savannah elephants are declining across much of their range and remain endangered overall.
According to the report some populations in southern Africa are increasing where legal frameworks give local communities a direct stake in managing the land and wildlife they share.
These gains took decades and were reinforced by anti-trafficking work, judicial reform and efforts to reduce corruption.
Another area of concern for the report has been the Congo Basin.
It is home to forest elephants, great apes, bonobos and okapis, and is under growing pressure from agricultural expansion, logging, mining, roads and other infrastructure that open and fragment forests.
“Unsustainable hunting and poaching further deplete wildlife populations. African forest elephant numbers have fallen by more than 60% over the past decades, driven largely by illegal killing for ivory and habitat loss, according to WWF wildlife inventory reports. Their decline also threatens forest regeneration, ecosystem services and carbon storage,” Godo added on the impacts that the basin area is exposed to.
