Living Planet Report China, 2015

Since 1970, China’s terrestrial vertebrates have declined by half, while the nation’s Ecological Footprint has more than doubled, reveals WWF’s Living Planet Report China, 2015, a flagship research report on the country’s demand on nature. The fourth issue of the report, themed “development, species and ecological civilization”, tracked 2,419 representative populations of 682 vertebrates’ species in China and found that almost half of China’s terrestrial vertebrates have vanished in the last 40 years. Habitat loss and nature degradation by human activities and development are the most significant threats to biodiversity in China. Over-hunting and climate change are also significant threats to amphibians, reptiles and mammals.