The Ecologist: All hope is not all lost

Over recent decades, human activities had strongly impacted the habitats and natural resources wildlife and humanity depend on. Biologists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every 24 hours which is nearly 1,000 times the natural rate.

WWF had also stated that populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined in size by 60 percent in just over 40 years in their Living Planet Report 2018. The Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years and 20 percent of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years！

Although these statements above may look depressing, but all hope is not all lost for endangered species. Panda, the global icon for China had just been brought back from the brink of extinction. The conservation efforts of China government had worked up since the population of Panda have increased by 16.8% for the past ten years.

There are now an estimated total of 2,060 pandas, of which 1,864 are adults - a number which has seen their status changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable", on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List.

This success is due to the efforts of China to repopulate and recreate Bamboo forests, which makes up 99% of Panda’s diet.

The decline of Panda’s numbers is due to the loss of Bamboo forests in the 1980’s, due to the deforestation and the urbanization of China.

Ginette Hemley, senior vice-president for wildlife conservation at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated that, The Chinese are a wonderful example that shows that what results if the government is committed to conservation.

Besides that, the population increase of Irrawaddy Dolphin’s in the Mekong River also shows that reservation for endangered animals can receive positive outcomes.

Irrawaddy Dolphin populations were found throughout the Mekong from the Lao-Cambodia border down the Mekong to the delta in Vietnam and in Tonle Sap.

For the past 39 years, the numbers of Irrawaddy Dolphins had decreased greatly due to hunting for meat and oil, accidental drowning in nets, explosives fishing, and even being used as target practice by various armies during Cambodia’s recent troubled periods.

WWF Cambodia in collaboration with provincial authorities and local community had started out conservation programmes and achieve positive results.

They had succeeded to rise the numbers of new born calves and reduce the mortality rate of the dolphins.

This is a good example to prove that the cooperation of NGO’s, authority and local community can help to reserve endangered animals.