Nature in Crisis: Global Wildlife Populations Declining at Alarming Rate

Nature is in “free fall” as a result of human activity, with global wildlife populations falling by nearly three quarters in 50 years, conservationists warn. The world is fast approaching dangerous and irreversible “tipping points” in natural systems such as the Amazon rainforest and the polar ice caps, which pose grave threats to humanity and wildlife, a new report from conservation charity WWF says.

The Living Planet Index

The latest edition of the Living Planet Index compiled by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) warns monitored global populations of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles have seen an average decline of 73 per cent in 50 years. These declines have been driven by human activities such as habitat destruction for food production, and are now being compounded by climate change.

The index forms part of WWF’s latest Living Planet report, which calls for urgent action to transform food production, energy and finance systems that lie behind the declines in nature – on which humanity depends for its survival.

Tipping Point

The report, released as countries prepare to meet for UN Cop16 and Cop29 meetings on nature and climate, warns tipping points are fast approaching, where impacts on a natural system reach a threshold, triggering major and potentially irreversible change. These include mass die-off of corals which would destroy fisheries and storm protection for millions of people in coastal communities, while the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets would unleash many meters of sea level rise.

In the Amazon, deforestation and climate change could soon lead to a point where it is no longer suitable for tropical rainforest, causing a tipping point which would emit huge amounts of carbon and alter global weather patterns.

Global Declines

The Living Planet Index, which draws on data from 35,000 population trends and 5,495 species shows Latin America and the Caribbean have seen the fastest declines in wildlife, with average wildlife populations drop 95 per cent in 50 years. While declines have been less dramatic in Europe and North America, this reflects that large-scale impacts on nature had already taken place before 1970 in those parts of the world, the report says.

Mike Barrett, WWF chief scientific adviser, said the 73 per cent decline was “really shocking”. “It’s not just the Living Planet Index, all globally recognized indicators tell exactly the same stories, whether we’re talking about population abundance, about species diversity, extinction rates, or the extent and intactness of natural habitats, these all tell us that nature is in free fall,” he said.

Conservation Efforts

The report highlights tumbling populations for creatures from nesting female hawksbill turtles in the Great Barrier Reef to Amazon pink river dolphins in Brazil. It also highlights some conservation bright spots including increases in mountain gorillas in Virunga mountains in East Africa, and the comeback of European Bison populations in central Europe, but warns they are not enough amid a backdrop of widespread habitat destruction.