In just 50 years, the average size of wildlife populations has declined by a catastrophic 73 %, according to WWF's Living Planet Report.

The average size of monitored wildlife populations has suffered a catastrophic 73% decline in just 50 years (1970-2020), according to WWF's Living Planet 2024 report. This percentage does not mean that nearly three-quarters of the planet's wildlife has disappeared, but rather that the size of distinct populations (groups of animals of the same species that share a common habitat) has declined. That is, the percentage change in the index reflects the average proportional change in the size of animal populations monitored at sites around the world, not the number of individual animals lost or the number of populations lost.

The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), analyzes population trends of nearly 35,000 species in 5,495 categories between 1970 and 2020. The steepest declines are in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial (-69%) and marine (-56%). Habitat loss and degradation, primarily caused by our food system, is the most commonly reported threat to wildlife populations worldwide, followed by overexploitation, invasive species and disease.

Declining wildlife populations can provide an early warning of increasing extinction risk and the potential loss of healthy ecosystems. As these are degraded, they may become more vulnerable to tipping points - crossing a critical threshold that causes significant and potentially irreversible changes.

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Kirsten Schuijt, Director General of WWF International, said: 'Nature is crying out for help. The interconnected crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are pushing wildlife and ecosystems to dangerous tipping points, threatening to undermine the Earth's life- systems and destabilise societies around the world. The catastrophic consequences of losing some of our most precious ecosystems, such as the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs, would be felt by people and nature around the world".

Some of the species populations assessed in the LPI include the hawksbill turtle, which suffered a 57% decline in the number of nesting females on Milman Island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef between 1990 and 2018. It also shows that the population of the Amazon pink dolphin (boto) fell by 65%, while the smaller tucuxi dolphin declined by 75% between 1994 and 2016 in the Mamirauá reserve in Amazonas, Brazil. In addition, more than 330 river dolphins recently died in just two lakes during a period of extreme heat and drought in 2023.

The Index also shows that some species populations are stabilising or increasing as a result of effective conservation efforts, such as the increase in mountain gorilla subpopulations (by around 3% per year between 2010 and 2016) in the Virunga Mountains of East Africa, and the return of bison populations in central Europe.

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Countries have already agreed to ambitious global targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss (Global Biodiversity Framework), limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C (Paris Agreement) and eradicate poverty (UN Sustainable Development Goals). But the Living Planet Report shows that national commitments and action on the ground still fall far short of what is needed to meet the 2030 targets and avoid dangerous tipping points.

For Carlos Mauricio Herrera, Director of Conservation and Governance at WWF Colombia, "Urgent action at COP16 and between now and 2030 is essential to prevent the Amazon and the planet's major ecological systems from reaching the point of no return. If we fail, the consequences will be devastating not only for the region, but for the entire planet. The Amazon plays a crucial role not only as a refuge for biodiversity, but also as a hub for regional and global climate regulation, and its degradation directly affects our ability to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The figures in the Living Planet Report already warn of the serious danger the region faces. But there is still hope and opportunity to reverse the tipping point - now is the time to act, but we must seize this opportunity with greater ambition and a unified global effort to protect the Amazon, the planet and ensure a sustainable future for all.

WWF is calling on governments to provide more public and private funding to enable action at scale, and to better align their policies and actions on climate, nature and sustainable development. Governments and businesses must act to rapidly phase out activities that harm biodiversity and the climate, and redirect funds from harmful practices to activities that meet global targets.

"Although the situation is desperate, we have not yet ed the point of no return. We have global agreements and solutions to put nature on a path to recovery by 2030, but so far there has been little progress in implementation and a lack of sense of urgency. Decisions and actions taken in the next five years will determine the future of life on Earth. The power - and opportunity - to change the current trajectory is in our hands. We can restore our living planet if we act now," Schuijt added.

Andrew Terry, ZSL's Director of Conservation and Policy, added: "The Living Planet Index highlights the continuing loss of wildlife populations, and this thinning of the tree of life puts us at risk of tipping points. We are not trapped by this loss, we know what to do, and we know that nature can recover if given the chance; what we need now is more action and ambition. We have five years to meet international commitments to restore nature by 2030. World leaders will soon gather at COP16, and we need to see strong responses and an urgent increase in resources to meet these commitments and put us back on the road to recovery.

EDWIN CAICEDO

Environment and health journalist

@CaicedoUcros