ISLAMABAD: Asia and the Pacific is consuming more resources than its ecosystems can sustain, threatening the future of the region's beleaguered forests, rivers, and oceans as well as the livelihoods of those who depend on them, says a new joint report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The Joint ADB-WWF study was launched to commemorate World Environment Day to encourage positive environmental action.
The study, Ecological Footprint and Investment in Natural Capital in Asia and the Pacific, focuses on ways of preserving key large-scale regional ecosystems.
"Major ecosystems such as the Coral Triangle and the heart of the Borneo rainforest are vital to the future of Asia and the Pacific," said Nessim Ahmad, ADB's Director for Environment and Safeguards and added "We need large-scale programmatic efforts based on regional cooperation and local level action to make sure they are sustained for future generations."
By 2008, the per capita natural resources in these regional ecosystems had shrunk by about two-thirds compared to 1970.
Despite the rich natural capital in the region, the report says that biodiversity is in decline in all types of ecosystems, with the rate of species loss about twice the global average.
The report uses the Living Planet Index to measure changes in the health of ecosystems across the Asia and the Pacific, saying the global index fell by around 30% over the past four decades, while the Indo-Pacific region saw a 64% decline in key populations of species during the same period.
Across the region, the gap between the ecological footprint - or human demand for natural resources - and the environment's ability to replenish those resources is widening.
"The challenge for countries in Asia and the Pacific is to manage their natural capital sustainably, so that they maintain ecosystem services in the interests of long-term economic development," said WWF's Director General Jim Leape.
"We need to create mechanisms that make protecting our resources the right economic choice for the communities that use and depend on them," Leape added.
The report estimated that every dollar spent on conservation efforts would yield an economic and social value of ecosystems worth over $100.
ADB places environmentally sustainable growth at the core of its work to help reduce poverty in the region and the bank approved a record 59 projects supporting environmental sustainability in 2011, which amounted to about $7 billion in financing.
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