A British perspective on population and biodiversity
by Philip Cafaro, April 18, 2023
[ . . . ]
For both amphibians and birds, the relationship between increased human population density and increased percentages of species declining is statistically significant. Chapter nine notes that this correlation between population density and recent
biodiversity loss has been found worldwide, in studies looking at measures of biodiversity intactness: “across the world as a whole, more people are correlated with more biodiversity loss.” Conservation biologists generally agree that preserving
habitat is the key to preserving biodiversity, leading to support for ecological restoration of former agricultural lands as a cornerstone of conservation efforts going forward. But as Beebe notes, in densely populated countries with increasing concerns
about food security, such agricultural deintensification in not likely to be widely adopted.

Given the evident importance of population matters to biodiversity conservation, one would expect more attention to this matter. On the positive side, chapter eight notes that polls regularly show that the general public understands the importance of
reducing human numbers for biodiversity conservation, and that naturalists and conservation biologists have increased their population advocacy in recent years. On the negative side, environmental organizations generally ignore the issue. Worst of all,
the wealthy foundations that many of these organizations have come to depend on punish those which address it.

The timid silence of most environmental NGOs arguably amounts to a dereliction of duty, given the impacts of increasing human numbers on their stated objectives. Beebe levels similar criticisms at mainstream politicians: the platform of the UK’s Green
Party “seems designed to minimize offence rather than to propose action,” while other major parties remain silent about population. Into this breach step the economists, who are uniquely unsuited to advise on population matters, given their obsession
with economic growth and their demotion of other species to mere “natural resources,” to be used or exterminated whenever this is convenient for people. “It is pertinent to ask why economics is so highly rated in the corridors of power,” Beebe
writes. And again: “the demotion of economics as a major driving force in the political arena might well be the best of news for the future of Planet Earth.”

In a final chapter titled “Conservation in a Crowded Country,” Beebe wades into controversial questions regarding population policies at home and around the world. He notes that widespread worries about low birthrates and stable or declining
populations have led many countries to introduce policies to increase fertility rates in recent years. Yet few of these countries have biodiversity intactness index scores that merit such policies, and many have such large populations that their real
worry probably should be whether they will be able to feed them in a warming world. Focusing on the UK, Beebe quotes one study that estimated it could only sustainably feed a population of 20 million people, far below the current 67 million or the 78
million projected by UN demographers for 2100. He goes on to discuss tax and incentive policies to lower UK fertility rates, and gingerly broaches the topic of limiting immigration, the leading driver of continued population growth in the UK, as it is
throughout the developed world.

As throughout the book, Beebe’s policy discussion here is reasonable and non-dogmatic, while not avoiding the hard issues. As he concludes:

"Without bringing human numbers into mainstream thinking in the context of wildlife and human futures, significant changes for the better look almost impossible. For far too long discussion about overpopulation in developed countries including the UK has
been taboo in polite society. This needs to change. A humane population-reduction policy would not have a rapid beneficial effect but is vital for any chance of proper recovery for Britain’s outstanding wildlife heritage in the longer term. To this end,
it will be necessary to replace blinkered economic arguments that have consistently ignored the real biological world in which human society functions."

https://overpopulation-project.com/a-british-perspective-on-population-and-biodiversity/

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