Wild animal populations have declined by 73% in the past 50 years, largely because of humanity, which in turn is threatened by this degradation of ecosystems, according to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) published today, few days before COP16 on Biodiversity in Colombia.

From continent to continent, the decline reaches 95% in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Africa (-76%) and Asia-Pacific (-60%).

The decline is less spectacular in Europe and Central Asia (-35%) and North America (-39%) only because major changes in Nature were already visible before 1970 in these regions: some populations stabilized or developed thanks to conservation and protection efforts and the introduction of species, according to the report.

For example, the European bison, which disappeared in the wild in 1927, now numbers 6,800 individuals in 2020 thanks to extensive breeding and successful reintroduction, mainly in protected areas.

The greatest decrease is observed in the populations of freshwater species (-85%), followed by terrestrial vertebrates (-69%) and marine (-56%).

Commenting on the “incredibly worrying situation”, WWF director-general Kirsten Sutz says “the good news is that we are not yet at the point of no return” and refers to the targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement or the Kunming Agreement -Montreal for the protection of Nature until 2030.

In the previous 2022 report, the trend was for a 68% decline.

Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians are disappearing

The conclusion of the report entitled “Living Planet” does not mean that two-thirds of the world’s wild animals have disappeared, but that the size of populations (groups of animals of the same species living in the same environment) has decreased by 73% on average during the last fifty years (1970-2020).

In total, about 5,500 vertebrates (mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians) living in 35,000 populations in the world are recorded based on the “Living Planet Index” established in 1998 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and updated every two years

The index is an international benchmark for monitoring natural ecosystems and analyzing impacts on human health, nutrition and climate change, despite persistent criticism from scientists over the calculation method, which is seen as overinflating the magnitude of population decline.

The Zoological Society of London defends the reliability of the index by employing a series of additional indicators that assess the risk of species extinction, biodiversity and ecosystem health, contributing to the creation of an overall picture.

“It’s not just wildlife at issue, it’s the important ecosystems that support human life,” warns WWF’s Dowdy Sumba.

The report reiterates the need to jointly address the “interconnected” crises of Climate and Nature’s destruction and insists on the growing threat from tipping points in some ecosystems.

“The changes may be irreversible, with catastrophic consequences for humanity,” warns Dowdy Souba, citing as an example the Amazon that risks turning from a carbon sink to a carbon emitter by accelerating the rise of Earth’s temperature.

Another example, the loss of corals would affect the regeneration of fish species that are victims of overfishing and would deprive humanity of valuable food resources.

“We have emptied the oceans of 40% of their biomass,” recalls WWF’s Jan Lawrence.

Advancing the goals of this roadmap is the core mission of the 16th United Nations Biodiversity Conference being held in Cali, Colombia from 21 October to 1 November.