(EnergyAsia, June 14 2012, Thursday) — The Asia Pacific region must invest heavily to preserve and defend its natural-resource base and the environment as it becomes more affluent and consume more resources, said the WWF.

In its “Ecological Footprint and Investment in Natural Capital in Asia and the Pacific” report, the non-governmental organisation said the region’s growing affluence is placing enormous pressure on its already heavily taxed forests, rivers and oceans.

The report, which provides a more detailed regional perspective to the recently released Living Planet Report, focuses on attainable methods of preserving key regional ecosystems including the unique forests of Borneo, the marine wealth of the Coral Triangle, the Mekong region’s diverse habitats, as well as the mountainous Eastern Himalayas.

Produced in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the regional report uses the Living Planet Index (LPI) to measure changes in the health of ecosystems across the Asia-Pacific region.

WWF said the global index fell by 28% from 1970 and 2008, while the Indo-Pacific region saw a shocking 64% decline in key populations of species over the same period.

“Across the Asia-Pacific region, the gap between human demand for natural resources and the environment’s ability to replenish those resources is widening,” said WWF’s Director General Jim Leape.

“In 2008, the natural resources available per person, in places as diverse as the Eastern Himalayas and Mekong river basin, shrunk by about two thirds compared to 1970. Tragically, the rate of species loss was about twice the global average over this period.”

Jonathan Loh from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the organisation that keeps track of the index, said:

“The Indo-Pacific realm has undergone the most rapid economic and demographic transition of any region in the world since 1970.

“Across most of tropical Asia and the Pacific, the population grew from about 1.2 billion to 2.6 billion, which is alone enough to double the pressures placed on the area’s natural resources. Coupled with the dramatic increase in per capita consumption across the entire Asia-Pacific region, it becomes clear that reversing this downward trend needs systemic changes to our economies and the way we produce and consume natural resources.”

Australia, Singapore, Mongolia, South Korea, New Zealand, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and China round out the top 10 Ecological Footprints per capita in the region.  

Asia-Pacific residents still consume on average close to 60% less than the global average of over one and half planets per person, but major disparities exist. Australia’s per-capita ecological footprint is the highest in the region, about 14 times larger than Timor-Leste.

From a national level, China has the region’s largest footprint on account of its large population. China and India are likely to experience the greatest increase in overall ecological footprint by 2015, representing 37% of the projected global footprint.

The report outlines four solutions to reverse the declining Living Planet Index in four major areas — the Heart of Borneo, the Coral Triangle, the Greater Mekong sub-region and the Eastern Himalayas — that provide millions of people with food, water and energy while hosting a large number of plant and animal species.

Policies that recognise the importance of the environment early on in the planning process is one of the solutions as are well-funded and monitored marine and terrestrial protected areas.

Payment for ecosystem services under programmes such as REDD also play an important role, as do private-sector sustainability initiatives. The report found that many businesses in the region are already showing how sustainably produced commodities including cotton, soy, palm oil, fish and timber bring big gains for people and the environment.

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said: “The green economy itself can become an engine of growth and the driver for a new generation of green jobs—bringing a higher quality of life.”