r/Switzerland • u/Sufficient-History71 Zürich • 1d ago
One third of Switzerland's animal and plant species under threat
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/climate-adaptation/a-third-of-switzerlands-animal-and-plant-species-are-under-threat/9218429037
u/Grand_Dadais 1d ago
The fact that people still seem to think "this won't affect me/it'll be for the people in 2100" and similar ways to rationnalize this kind of data is an issue.
This is not just about "moral values" or "loving the bees", it's about territorial resilience/robustness for a future that's getting bumpier on the road with a mist that's getting thicker.
Permaculture, agroforestry and lowtechs. Solo, at home, with family, with friends, in associations, etc.
Again : if you feel a great deal of empathy towards Nature, it's fine, you already have some kind of motivation to act; if you don't, it's also fine, just do it for your resilience/robustness in the area you live in.
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u/scorpion-hamfish 5th Switzerland 1d ago
Many people also think if it was actually that bad someone is going to do something about it, so there is no need to worry.
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u/Kooky_Eye5475 1d ago
According to the WWF, observed wildlife populations worldwide have declined by an average of 73% since 1970
damn, thats crazy
btw if you have a garden, make sure to plant native, local plants and to not create an English-style lawn, which is a bio-diversity desert. Also consider supporting https://www.pronatura.ch/
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u/GoodMix392 1d ago
Sales of windscreen wiper fluid in Canada has dropped by two thirds in the last few years. Not because people are driving less.
Because there are fewer insects.
This year we hit the 1.5 C. above average temperature which is where scientist absolutely told us we don’t want to be by 2050 or 2100.
The AMOC is predicted to be disrupted by 2100 but a smaller northern section will likely collapse in 20 years.
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u/Chytectonas Vaud 1d ago
Heartbreaking. Our mild punishment for being the way we are is being forced to watch the devastation unfold.
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u/FakeHasselblad 1d ago
I got some bad news... its far worse than that. If the bees go, we're all dead. Animals and humans.
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u/Sufficient-History71 Zürich 1d ago
Hey but we'd rather focus on ACs(which is like 0.1% of the solution) and everything else we wouldn't pay attention to.
I thought Switzerland as a small but great nation could cast a powerful shadow by being the world leader in green transition. But hey the best we can do is put an oil lobbyist in charge of the environment. 🤮
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u/Sad-Marsupial-2228 1d ago
We could focus on both, I won't put up with another summer drenching whole night in sweat 30+ degrees and not sleeping for weeks, meanwhile lots of energy for AC-s could be generated by solar panels. So I will have to buy a shitty inefficient mobile one, just to be able to function, instead of allowing normal AC-s thanks to the WeOnLyHaVe2WaRmDaYsInAyEaR mindset
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u/turbo_bibine 1d ago
Well domestic bee account for only around 15% of the pollinisation but yeah the decline in bugs population is threathening sexual reproduction of plants but drought and extreme weather are actively killing them
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u/Chance_Active_8579 1d ago
But dont worry, in 5-10 years when the problem will be too big to ignore we will barely manage to pass an initiative that will do the strict minimum
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u/Sad-Diver-943 1d ago
Who cares? The elderly people can do what they want, and we have to accept it; people will defend it with everything, but there is not much we can do about it.
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they themselves will never sit."
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u/forcehobbit 1d ago
This could help get things moving in a better direction. https://www.bienen-initiative.ch
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u/Mirdclawer 1d ago
I'm really glad that Rösti and Yves Bichsel are not filtering out the BAFU reports and manipulating and adapting the final summaries and take away messages from biodiversity documents produced by the BAFU, that would be really really crazy :o
Imagine censoring things like "Biodiversity Crisis", that would be insane :00
Oh wait...
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u/Sad-Marsupial-2228 1d ago
For starter, cats should maybe not roam free and kill millions of birds. At the same time it's almost impossible to let my dog run freely half of the year, or the whole year (rightfully so,before anyone complains. And I always pick up the shit, even in the woods)
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u/MiniGui98 Fribourg 1d ago
Hot take: outdoors cats wouldn't be a problem if we didn't build an absolutely sterile environment by cutting trees and making facades with no holes that provide no protection for any animal whatsoever.
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u/Remarkable-Yak-5844 1d ago
i mean also why dont just make it mandatory for them to have small bells ? that make noise when they move
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u/Rino-feroce 1d ago edited 1d ago
For starter we should focus maybe at the base of the food pyramid, not immediately point the finger at the apex predator . Using less pesticides, less intensive agricultural practices, building high rather than wide. Getting more insects and other small animals (frogs, mice...) to thrive. And I say this as someone who doesn't own any pets (neither dogs nor cats)
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u/fellainishaircut Zürich 1d ago
cat’s don’t contribute to this in any meaningful way. It’s pretty much just that habitat gets lost through construction activity and agriculture.
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u/Sufficient-History71 Zürich 1d ago edited 1d ago
For starter, one shouldn't blame cats for what humans are doing.
I love cats and while I know cats are assholes when it comes to killing birds, they are order of magnitudes lesser assholes than humans. So let's not make it about cats. Let's address the elephant in the room which is us.
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u/Sad-Marsupial-2228 1d ago
I don't blame the cats themselves, the owners and the shelters are the culprit in this. I was literally shocked, when I learned, that you can only adopt cats here, if you let them roam free. Even in worse and poorer countries in Europe, cats can be adopted exclusively as indoor pets. And letting them out is also a danger to them, they will be hit by cars, other animals, people, etc. It would be great to see some mindset change in this topic, bc at the same time dog ownership is very regulated (rightfully)
Btw, I am curious, what can we do as private persons limit this threat to wildlife? I do mostly, what I can, I try to buy locally, recycle, am very respectful in the wild, even take home someone else's trash, etc
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u/Sufficient-History71 Zürich 1d ago
Ohh dude, still you are focussing on an issue which isn't even the tip of the iceberg.
As private persons, we come together, protest, elect the right people, kick out SVP and FDP and understand that capitalism will bring the worst disaster we have seen. And as a starter, we can start following what the environmental scientists say! We have got really amazing ones at UNIL, EPFL, ETH, UZH, WSL and so many other research institutes.
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u/Sad-Marsupial-2228 1d ago
I am not allowed to vote yet unfortunately, but am against the whole svp shit
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u/Sufficient-History71 Zürich 1d ago
Same here. Just started the citizenship process but I intend to fight tooth and nail for this land and the planet.
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u/Sad-Marsupial-2228 1d ago
I only have 6-7 years more to go yet 😀 but at least in my home country we made huge change against the svp allied, extremely corrupt party
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u/Short_Albatross_5402 1d ago
Of course, the cats are the problem. Not you eating meat and drinking milk. The cats!
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u/Nixx177 1d ago edited 1d ago
Solution might be to build more, we need affordable housing and to import more workforce to pay for retirement. And ac of course
Seriously we barely have any place outside national park or middle of a mountain chain without constructions
Oh or bloody industrial zones, definitely don’t build anything underground and use as much surface as you can. Because having fields forests and parks on the surface would bring insects and ewww
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u/MalthusianTroll 1d ago edited 1d ago
Should’ve capped the population. A continuously growing population is obviously not good for other species. Even if you cram everyone inside dense cities the pressure to expand outwards remains.
Really should’ve voted to cap it.
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u/Seahorse_by_Night Basel-Stadt 1d ago
Explain
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u/MalthusianTroll 1d ago edited 1d ago
More people = more pressure on land for development
Threatens habitats.
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u/Seahorse_by_Night Basel-Stadt 1d ago
Care to differentiate how +1 Million additional people would help until we reached the 10 million?
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