The world slows down, nature awakens
As the world got into lockdown, Nature retrieved a few of its rights. A sign that putting down pressures on ecosystems leads to rapid and promising effects.
Nature ready to bounce back
It is true that some species have been lost forever and with them a vast and often unsuspected wealth. As the PNAS (National Academy of Sciences) researchers remind us: "When a species becomes extinct, a wide range of characteristics are permanently lost, from genes to phenotypes, behaviours and interactions'. However, for the remaining fauna and flora, there are encouraging signs that it may not be too late.
This is evidenced by the recovery, through conservation efforts, of several species such as the Mauritian parakeet, the California condor and the African black rhinoceros. The same hope is held out for the European bison, a few individuals of which survived only in captivity at the beginning of the 20th century. Reintroduced to the wild, there are currently 47 European bison herds in their natural habitat, notably in Poland, Belarus and Russia. "The recoveries of the European bison and twenty-five other species documented in today's update of the IUCN red list demonstrate the power of conservation," said Dr Bruno Oberle, IUCN General Director.
Unlike climate measures, which only show their effects over very long periods of time, biodiversity can rebound quickly. In other words, the species that remain can recover quickly if we limit the pressure of human activities on them. The relief offered to nature with the shutdown of the world due to the health crisis has brought this aspect of biodiversity to light. In the four corners of the globe, animals could be spotted in places where we had lost the habit of seeing them. In the absence of ship noise, marine animals could communicate with each other. The reproduction of species such as turtles was facilitated... Spaces, hitherto dominated by man, are now being reinvested. Ways of hope to reverse the decline
To be read also in the dossier "Life in free fall: no more denial?":