The Population Factor returns for a second season

Biodiversity, ecological footprint, Environmental movement, The Population Factor 1 Minute

The Population Factor, the show hosted by The Overpopulation Project’s own Phil Cafaro, returns with a second season, starting off with a discussion about the Nature Needs Half proposal.

by The Overpopulation Project

Wildlife populations are dwindling rapidly across much of the world and the number one cause is habitat loss, driven by excessive human numbers and expanding human economies. A new episode of The Population Factor discusses Nature Needs Half: a bold proposal to arrest this decline by dedicating half of Earth’s lands and seas as protected areas free from intensive economic use.

Amy Lewis, Vice President of Policy and Communications for the Wild Foundation, joins host Phil Cafaro for a wide-ranging discussion covering the current state of global biodiversity, recently proposed legislation in the US Congress to increase protected areas, arguments for and against Nature Needs Half, and the role limiting human numbers could play in achieving this inspiring vision.

The Population Factor kicks off its second season on Earthx TV, the new internet TV network. It aims to become the top spot for honest and probing discussion of population issues in the English-speaking world. Check out seasons one and two, available for free streaming on your computer. Or add the Earthx TV network on your smart TV and start streaming for free on the big (well, slightly bigger) screen!

To learn even more about Nature Needs Half, check out The Wild Foundation’s website and read these key publications:

* Reed Noss, Bolder thinking for conservation, Conservation Biology (2012)

* Helen Kopnina, Half the earth for people (or more)? Addressing ethical questions in conservation, Biological Conservation (2016)

* Stuart Pimm et al., How to protect half of Earth to ensure it protects sufficient biodiversity, Science Advances (2018)

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4 thoughts on “The Population Factor returns for a second season”

  1. Depending on the source, we humans make-up about 33% of the land-based vertebrate biomass (weight) on the planet, our “domestic” food animals another 66%, and that leaves 1% “wild”, although at least one author puts that number as high as 4%! Too many humans are using too many natural resources and producing too much pollution. Questions? Stress R Us

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  2. Nature Needs Half ??? Yeah, and I need a new Rolls Royce. I think the odds are about the same for these two special “needs” actually occurring.. Seriously, this sort of fanciful writing is harmful because it advances possibilities that are at odds with reality. “Yeah, nature has a chance! See what we can do!” Please stick to the core issue: Human Population Growth. We must get the message out that this growth must drop. Even though the information media corporations are hostile to the issue.

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    1. Stephen,

      Setting aside half of all landscapes and seascapes for nature is an aspirational goal. It states what is needed to avoid a mass extinction of Earth’s species, according to the conservation biologists. Sure, it isn’t going to happen tomorrow, perhaps never. But we need to set a marker of what is necessary.

      In the same way, a lot of what we advocate in the population policy realm is aspirational–including the basic “ask” that citizens and policymakers take population issues seriously. Most don’t, and that won’t change tomorrow, or maybe ever. Still, we keep pushing.

      These two aspirational goals motivate us here at TOP, and we see them as mutually supportive. We are moved, in part, by a desire to create a world where people live in harmony with nature and set aside a lot more of Earth’s habitats and resources for the benefit of other other species, instead of hogging it all for ourselves.

      I have no idea how likely such a future is. I wouldn’t want to bet my children’s or grandchildren’s lives on it happening. Then again, I worry about my descendants’ futures in a world where it does not happen.

      Reply

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