Every two years, WWF produces the Living Planet report, which monitors the Earth's natural resources and how we use them. The report from 2004 shows that we are consuming about 20% more each year than the planet can sustain in the long-term.

There is an inextricable link between species loss and over consumption. The more we consume, the higher the species loss. Species loss is represented in Figure 2 which shows the living planet index, (the populations of terrestrial, marine and freshwater vertebrate species). There has been a 21% decline in populations from 1970 to 2003.

Figure 1 shows the increase in our ecological footprint, which represents humanity's impact on the planet and how we are over-using the world's resources. If everyone on Earth consumed as much as the average person in the UK, we would need 3 planets to support us.

If we work together to reduce of our impact on the planet it is hoped that we can slow down the decrease in species loss. It is up to all of us, government and business to lead the way and show that the UK can move away from an over-consumptive society to one that uses the earth's resources fairly.

	Figure 1: Humanity's Ecological Footprint: This estimates how much mankind is over-using the world's natural resources.
	Figure 2: Living Planet Index: This shows trends in populations of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater vertebrate species. It declined by 29% from 1970 to 2003.