4. Success in limiting ozone-depleting substances is also
helping to mitigate climate change
5.
6. •Deforestation continues to pose serious challenges, even
though the net loss of forest area is slowing down.
•Forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change.
•The total forest area designated primarily for biodiversity
conservation has increased by an estimated 96 million
hectares, or almost one third, since 1990
7. The number of species threatened
with extintion is rising rapidly
8. Trends in extinction risks can be measured by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red
List Index, which shows the net balance between
genuine improvements in the status of species
The index for birds shows that they are least
threatened in Northern Africa and Western Asia,
and most threatened in Oceania, where island
species are often susceptible to invasive species
humans have deliberately or inadvertently
introduced.
Several other classes of organisms, such as
mammals, amphibians, cycads and conifers have
been found to be even more threatened than
birds.
10. The proportion of overexploited and depleted
stocks in marine capture fisheries has increased
slightly over the past 20 years, while the proportion
of underexploited and moderately exploited stocks
has decreased.
A number of initiatives have taken hold in this
direction, such as reducing total allowable catches
of commercial species, reducing bycatch of
vulnerable species, and establishing marine
protected areas.
11. Almost half of the world’s
population face a scarcity of water
Surface water and ground water
withdrawal as percentage of total actual
renewable water resources
Water use has grown at more than twice
the rate of the population for the past
century.
12. More people are using improved sanitation facilities,
but meeting the target will require a redoubling of
efforts
13. In developing regions, nearly one in
four uses no form of sanitation
Almost a quarter of the developing world ’s
population live without any form of
sanitation.
An additional 15 per cent use sanitation
facilities that do not ensure hygienic
separation of human waste from human
contact.
Of the 1.2 billion people worldwide who
practise open defecation, more than one
billion live in rural areas.
15. Recent findings confirm anecdotal evidence that
women shoulder the bulk of responsibility for
collecting water when none is available on the
premises.
Women are more than twice as likely as men to
collect water, while children usually collect water in 11
per cent of households.
More girls than boys fetch water.
