WWF warns action needed to restore nature

Global wildlife populations have dropped by more than two-thirds since 1970 due to human activities, research from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows.

The WWF’s Living Planet report used Zoological Society of London (ZSL) data on the status of 32,000 wildlife populations covering 5,230 species across the planet, and found that population sizes had declined by 69% on average.

Agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species and climate change were identified as the main drivers of the loss.

Latin America shows the greatest regional decline in wildlife populations (94%), while freshwater species populations have seen the greatest overall global decline (83%). According to the report, one population of pink river dolphins in the Brazilian Amazon plummeted by 65% between 1994 and 2016 alone.

The report’s findings are broadly in line with WWF’s last assessment in 2020, with wildlife population sizes continuing to decline at a rate of about 2.5% per year. The report’s authors note that the data “leaves no doubt” that the UN Decade on Biodiversity – meant to implement broad-based action to transform society’s relationship with nature – has fallen “far short” of what is needed.

A nature-positive future will bring countless benefits to human and economic well-being, including to our climate, food and water security

Commenting on the findings, Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said: “We face the double emergencies of human-induced climate change and biodiversity loss, threatening the wellbeing of current and future generations. WWF is extremely worried by this new data showing a devastating fall in wildlife populations, in particular in tropical regions that are home to some of the most biodiverse landscapes in the world.”

The report states that achieving a net-zero loss for nature is now “not enough”, and that we need a net-positive goal to restore nature. 

“We need to be nature positive by 2030 – which, in simple terms, means more nature by the end of this decade than at its start,” the report says. “More natural forests, more fish in the ocean and river systems, more pollinators in our farmlands, more biodiversity worldwide. A nature-positive future will bring countless benefits to human and economic well-being, including to our climate, food and water security.”

World leaders are due to meet at the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) in December, where they will have the opportunity to discuss the world’s biodiversity and agree a plan to set nature in recovery.

“Government leaders must step up at COP15,” said Dr Lambertini. “The world is watching.”

To find out more about biodiversity and how to reduce impacts of products and services read Ocki’s foundation article.