Nurturing Nature

Humanity’s demand on the planet is more than 50 percent larger than what nature can renew, according to Global Footprint Network’s latest data, published in the 2014 edition of the Living Planet Report. The biennial report, produced by WWF in collaboration with Global Footprint Network and the Zoological Society of London, was launched today in Geneva, Switzerland. Released just over a week after the UN Climate Summit in New York City and massive marches around the world, the report shows that for the past 40 years, humanity’s demand on nature has exceeded what our planet can replenish. During the same period, vertebrate wildlife populations have declined on average by more than half, as measured by the Living Planet Index. "It is no coincidence that our Ecological Footprint has climbed while biodiversity has plummeted. Overshoot is a core pressure on biodiversity, and WWF is the leading conservation organization recognizing and addressing this link," said Mathis Wacker