Over the past 52 years, wildlife loss has been estimated at more than two-thirds. In the run-up to the upcoming COP15 on biodiversity, WWF’s new report calls on governments to step up conservation and recovery efforts, but also calls for the rapid decarbonization of all economic sectors, as it has been proven that climate change caused by human activities is already the biggest threat to biodiversity.
Biodiversity Loss By Region. Credit: WWF
An average of 69 percent of wildlife populations Disappeared
From the year 1970 until 2018, it has been estimated that around 69 percent of wildlife populations which includes fish, birds, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles disappeared, according to the Living Planet Index, a benchmark tool published every two years by WWF. According to the report, the destruction of natural habitats, particularly for agricultural development, remains the main cause, but overexploitation and poaching that is done mainly for meeting the Chinese market demand also play a major role.
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Rapid climate change is the third factor, but still is playing an “increasingly important role” according to Marco Lambertini, WWF Director General. Air, water, and soil pollution follow in addition to the fact that humans also spread invasive species that tend to push out the native ones.
This report is a “red alert for the planet and therefore for humanity,” Lambertini said in an international online press conference, “at a time when we are beginning to understand that sustainable ecosystems, rich biodiversity, and a stable climate are necessary to ensure a prosperous, more equitable and secure future for ourselves and especially for our children and their children.”
The Living Planet Index (calculated in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London) tracks populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians and shows an average decline of 68% in monitored wildlife populations since 1970. LPI 2022 has analyzed nearly 32,000 species populations. It is the most comprehensive measurement of how they respond to pressures from their environment.
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Gorillas, Leatherback sea turtles, sharks, and corals are dying
In the run-up to the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal in December, WWF is calling on governments to take this last chance by adopting an ambitious global agreement to save wildlife, similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
To reverse biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change, the report calls for intensified conservation and recovery efforts, more sustainable food production and consumption, and rapid decarbonization of all economic sectors. The numbers are truly staggering for Latin America, said Mark Wright, WWF’s science director, with an average loss of 94 percent in the region, which is “known for its biodiversity” and “critical for climate mitigation.”
In Europe, wildlife populations have fallen by an average of 18 percent. “But this masks very extreme historical losses of biodiversity” before the analysis period, says Andrew Terry, director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London, WWF’s partner in compiling the index.
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“A message of ‘profound catastrophe’ can lead to ‘despair, denial and inaction’.”
In Africa, according to the index, the average loss is 66 percent. “A glaring example is Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the population of eastern lowland gorillas has dropped by about 80 percent,” mainly due to hunting, said Alice Ruhweza, WWF’s Africa director. Sharks, coral reefs, tree frogs, Leatherback turtles, and lynxes, are also among the most threatened as highlighted in the report.
