WWF: Almost 70% of wildlife has disappeared since 1970

The planet has lost an average of almost 70% of its wildlife populations in just over fifty years, a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) benchmark assessment released today reveals, highlighting the close link between the loss biodiversity and climate change.

Between 1970 and 2018, an average of 69% of wild species—fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles—were lost, according to the report on the Living Planet Index, a benchmark tool updated every two years by WWF.

The destruction of the natural environment, especially for the development of agriculture, remains the main cause, the text states. Next comes overexploitation and poaching.

Climate change is the third most important factor, but its role is “magnifying very quickly”, warns Marco Lambertini, WWF’s director general. This is followed by air, water and land pollution, as well as the human spread of invasive species.

The report released today is “a red alert for the planet and therefore for humanity,” Mr. Lambertini emphasized during a digitally delivered press conference, “at a time when we are beginning to truly understand that sustainable ecosystems, the rich biodiversity and climate stability are elements necessary to have a future with prosperity, equality and greater security, especially for our children and their own children in turn.”

As the COP15 International Conference on Biodiversity approaches (December in Montreal), “WWF is calling on governments to seize this last opportunity to adopt an ambitious global goal to save wildlife”, similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

To “reverse the curve of biodiversity loss” and “mitigate” climate change, the report calls for stepping up conservation and restoration efforts, producing and consuming more sustainable food, and reducing carbon emissions for all the sectors of the economy.

The numbers are “truly scary” in Latin America, said Mark Wright, its scientific director WWF, as an average of 94% of wild species have disappeared in this region, “famous for its biodiversity” and “crucial for climate regulation”.

Europe has seen its wildlife population decline by 18% on average, but “this masks the very large biodiversity losses historically” before the period covered in the analysis, pointed out Andrew Terry, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of of London, WWF’s partner in preparing the report.

In Africa, the text estimates that the loss reached 66%. “A horrific example is that of Kahuzi Biega National Park, in DR Congo, where eastern lowland gorillas have suffered an 80% population decline,” mainly due to hunting, noted Alice Ruhueza, WWF’s Africa director.

Leatherbacks, lynxes, dolphins, corals and frogs are among the “symbols of biodiversity” most threatened, according to the report.

The Living Planet Index (LPI) covers 5,230 species and invertebrates, divided into 32,000 animal populations worldwide.

In 2020, a study published in the scientific journal Nature, however, questioned the value of this indicator, pointing out after studying 14,000 vertebrate populations that only 1% showed an extreme decline and that if it was removed from the equation the remaining populations did not show an increase either nor downward trend.

The constant projection of the message of threatened “disaster”, argued the authors of this text, can lead to “despair, denial and inaction”, calling for more localized assessments that will help to “prioritize protection efforts”.

For its part, WWF calls on “wealthy nations to provide financial support for environmental protection”.

RES-EMP

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