Our heavy human footprint

Humans are using nature and natural resources 1.75 times faster than the planet can replace them and absorb all the waste we produce. In other words, humanity requires the resources of 1.75 Earths to maintain our current consumption levels.

Switzerland’s impact on the planet is even greater. We would require 2.8 Earths if everyone lived like us. Put another way, we would require 4.4 Switzerlands to meet all the demands we make on nature. 

Plants make up 82% of Earth’s biomass; animals make up just 0.5% (bacteria and fungi account for the rest). Now let’s look at mammalian biomass. We humans account for 36% of all mammalian biomass on Earth. Add our livestock which account for another 60% and together humans and livestock make up a staggering 96% of all mammals. 

Wild mammals make up just 4%. 

All the wild deer, carnivores, rodents, primates, whales and any other mammal you can think of make up just 0.007% of the Earth’s total biomass. 

And yet we continue to exterminate them. Wild mammals have declined by 85% since the appearance of humans and almost a third are now threatened with extinction (in Switzerland over one third are threatened). It’s a similar story with other types of animals, plants and fungi too.

Remember, the more complex an ecosystem is, the more species and networks it has, the more resilient it will be. And nature is remarkably resilient… if we allow it to be.