Over Exploitation

Over Exploitation

1. There are 3 main resources that humans overexploit these include forests, marine fauna and terrestrial fauna though hunting, fishing and deforestation

   • Most overexploitation is performed by large companies using industrial methods

2. Unsustainable hunting

   • hunting affects the migration patterns of certain animals due to animals associating danger to the migration
     • Plants that rely on animals to spread their seeds are not being spread which leads to the endangering of certain plant species
       • Prey populations are decreasing due to the lack of plant diversity in certain ecosystems
         • Predators starve due to the lack of prey
       • A lack of plant diversity negatively affects the climate through lack of air filtration
         • Raising awareness and educating people about the extent of the adverse effects hunting has on ecosystems
       • The lack of plant diversity affects the ability for some livestock to graze which is detrimental to small agricultural communities
   • Since 1600 23% of animal extinction is due to hunting
   • trophy hunting is an immediate threat to large animals such as lions, elephants, and species of primates.
     • slow rate of reproduction prevents species from recovering from large scale hunting
     • Black rhino population plummeted by 96% due to hunting between 1970 and 1992
     • To prevent trophy hunting conservation parks such as the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya utilise armed patrols to ward off hunters
       • Better enforcement of anti-poaching laws is imperative to the survival of species that are trophy hunted
         • Today some African countries are using their militaries to patrol areas that are susceptible to hunting to ward off, track and detain hunters
       • Enforcing more vigorous checks for illegal animal item smuggling

3. Logging/deforestation

   • Large-scale industrial logging is a huge threat to a huge range of tree species
     • Humans clear forests to make room for livestock, crops and urban development
       • 70% of deforested areas in the 1990s were converted to agricultural land (WWF)
       • deforestation can lead to the disruption of water systems that are vital to some crop and livestock farms, this obviously affects the livelihood of farmers and the food security of small farming communities
     • The world only contains half of its original forests (WWF)
     • Forests are being removed at a rate 10 times faster than its rate of regrowth(WWF)
       • Trees convert harmful greenhouse gasses into oxygen that is essential to human existence
         • Deforestation removes a means for the world to remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere thus removing air polution
           • Air pollution has adverse effects on human health including, decreased lung function, respiratory inflammation, increased risk of cancer, development of respiratory diseases and increased risk of heart problems.
             • 7 million premature deaths each year are linked to air polution
         • A way to prevent deforestation for logging is to avoid buying paper, this will influence the market and if done on a large enough scale will slow down the production of paper and prevent unsustainable logging
           • Although to a small extent deforestation is necessary to facilitate human population growth it must be offset by reforestation efforts in areas that will not affect be affected by urbanisation, the hope is that nations will be able to achieve zero net deforestation
           • achieving zero net deforestation is achievable for example Paraguay has reduced their net deforestation by 85% since 2004 (WWF Deforestation)
     • 33 million acres of forest is destroyed each year (national geographic)
   • Logging is the main contributing factor towards habitat destruction for species of animals
     • 80% of all plants and animals live in forests (National Geographic)
     • 4-6 thousand species that reside in rainforests go extinct each year (National Geographic)
     • habitat loss is the main threat to 85% of all endangered and threatened species (WWF)

4. Over fishing

   • Overexploitation of marine fauna is mostly carried out by large-scale industrial trawlers and fisheries
     • "More than 30 percent of the world's fisheries have been pushed beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them." (WWF overfishing)
       • organisations such as WWF are pushing for harder enforcement on laws for fisheries that will make them more sustainable
         • creating world wide standards for what is defined as a "sustainable fishery"
         • Makes it nesscesary for fisheries to qualify for a certification before they begin operation
         • There are also organisations that help existing fisheries improve their practices to qualify for certification
     • Overfishing at an industrial scale poses a huge threat to certain species of fish such as sharks and tuna
     • it is estimated that the worlds fishing fleet is "two and a half times the capacity needed to catch what we actually need." (WWF overfishing)
   • Although overfishing is a huge problem, some coastal communities rely on fishing for their livelihood these communities are often forced to fish unsustainably to keep up with large-scale industrial fishing
     • Extinction of certain fish species will threaten food security for small coastal communities that rely on fishing for food and work
       • The expansion and creation of marine conservation areas will give endangered fish a refuge and place to restore their population
     • illegal and unregulated fishing accounts for between 20 and 50% of the worlds catch (WWF)
   • A combination of environmental change and overfishing is pushing small fish species to collapse which can negatively influence the population of larger species in their ecosystem
     • Large fish and top predators need a certain amount of biodiversity among smaller fish species to feed off of.
     • industrial nets are used to remove large amounts of small fish from an ecosystem
       • If fishing continues at its current rate the loss of diversity through species extinction will affect the human fishing industry and food supply
         • On average each human consume 16.7 kg of fish per year
           • One way to prevent overfishing is to consume less seafood as an individual. This method will lower the quota that commercial fishers will need to meet to satisfy global demand and should remove the need for fishing at rates that are unsustainable
         • Destroying biodiversity among small fish communities destabilises large fishes food sources leading to lower populations of large fish. This directly affects human food sources such as tuna and shark
     • Small fish are affected by weather changes to a greater extent than larger fish
     • Overfishing at times where fish are negatively affected by bad weather is contributing to population collapse

5. Over exploitation is when humans use a resource faster than it can recover naturally.

   • Overexploitation often leads to habitat loss, extinction and resource destruction

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