There is a Magic Place …
… far, far away in a fascinating country. It is like time stands still there. It’s not changed for centuries and yet it changes every day. It teems with life and no people live there. It’s a place that has not seen much direct human influence and in a sense allows a glimpse into the past of this world. To get there you need to walk, swim, climb, duck, scramble, jump, whack, drop and stay positive. Most people do not know it exits and those who know do not know how beautiful it is. Those who have been there cannot stop loving it.
With all the natural beauty and life, it seems the local riparian eco system is intact. It is hard to imagine that that place is also suffering from the global decline.
On average earth has seen a decline of 69% in species populations since 1970. Loving this river and its riparian environment, we need to realize that globally monitored freshwater populations have declined by an average of 83% since 1970, more than any other species groups. Habitat loss and barriers to migration routes account for around half the threats to these populations.
These facts can be looked up and read in detail in the WWF, Living Planet Report. Latest version is for 2022 and can be found here:
https://wwflpr.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/lpr_2022_full_report.pdf
German short version: https://www.wwf.de/fileadmin/fm-wwf/Publikationen-PDF/WWF/WWF-lpr-living-planet-report-2022-kurzfassung.pdf
This is very depressing to me but it’s also reality and we need to wake up and realize there is a problem. Up until recently, I did not know the Living Planet Report exists and in a sense, it is quite exciting that it does. It does not only paint a dark future but also points out solutions and a recovery prognosis.
If you don’t have the time or interest to read the report then at least go to their website https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-US/ (German Version: https://www.wwf.de/living-planet-report) and check out their summary. It is well illustrated and should get you thinking.
