Since 1970, North America has lost 2.9 billion birds. The continent’s bird population dropped from ten billion to seven billion in five decades, a decline that wildlife scientists describe as a crisis. Colcom Foundation links this loss directly to human population growth and the land use pressures that come with it.

Habitat Lost to Development

By 2020, the United States had paved or built over land equivalent in size to Montana, West Virginia, and South Carolina combined. Agricultural uses accounted for 52 percent of the total U.S. land base. Only 13 percent of U.S. land carried any conservation protections. The habitat available for wildlife has been steadily compressed as the human population has grown.

The U.S. population was 205 million when the first Earth Day was observed in 1970. By 2020, it had grown to 330 million. Colcom Foundation documents how this population trajectory has run in parallel with the erosion of wildlife habitat, declining species counts, and shrinking wild vertebrate populations worldwide. Wild vertebrate populations globally have halved during the same period that the human population doubled.

A Timeline of Compounding Losses

The pattern becomes clearer when viewed decade by decade. Between 1970 and 1990, the U.S. population grew by 45 million and biocapacity consumption climbed from 227 to 237 percent. From 1990 to 2000, another 32 million people were added and biocapacity rose to 267 percent. Between 2000 and 2020, population increased by 48 million more. By 2020, 1,300 species were listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and 23 species were proposed for delisting due to extinction.

Colcom Foundation holds that these numbers are not separate stories. They are facets of a single problem. Colcom Foundation contends that no conservation program, however well-funded or carefully designed, can fully succeed while the underlying population pressure continues to mount. Addressing that pressure, in the foundation’s view, is the prerequisite for lasting environmental progress. See related link for more information.

Find more information about Colcom Foundation on https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/colcom-foundation,311479839/