Global wildlife populations have plummeted by an average of 73% over the past 50 years, according to a new scientific assessment by WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

The Living Planet Report, released biennially, highlights the catastrophic impact of human activity on ecosystems worldwide, pushing them closer to collapse.

The steepest declines were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, where wildlife populations have fallen by a staggering 95%. Africa follows with a 76% decline, while Asia and the Pacific saw a 60% drop. Europe and North America experienced comparatively smaller decreases of 35% and 39%, respectively, since 1970.

However, scientists note that these regions suffered significant wildlife losses before 1970, with current trends in Latin America and Africa mirroring historical patterns in the Global North.

Matthew Gould, ZSL’s chief executive, said the report’s message was clear: “We are dangerously close to tipping points for nature loss and climate change. But we know nature can recover, given the opportunity, and that we still have the chance to act.”

Researchers warn that accelerating global heating could trigger tipping points in critical ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest, the Arctic, and marine habitats. These shifts may amplify the rate of species loss, potentially causing catastrophic consequences for biodiversity and human society.

The Living Planet Index, which underpins the report, is based on nearly 35,000 population trends from 5,495 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

While widely recognised as a key measure of global biodiversity health, it has faced criticism for potentially overestimating wildlife declines.

The index emphasises data from regions like Africa and Latin America, where biodiversity loss is more pronounced but population data are less comprehensive.

Critics argue this weighting skews the global average, though other metrics also confirm severe declines.

Hannah Wauchope, an ecology lecturer at Edinburgh University, said: “The weighting of the Living Planet Index is imperfect, but until we have systematic sampling of biodiversity worldwide, some form of weighting will be necessary. What we do know is that as habitat destruction and other threats to biodiversity continue, there will continue to be declines.”

In a critique of the index published by Springer Nature in June, scientists said it “suffers from several mathematical and statistical issues, leading to a bias towards an apparent decrease even for balanced populations”.

They continued: “This does not mean that in reality there is no overall decrease in vertebrate populations [but the] current phase of the Anthropocene [epoch] is characterised by more complex changes than … simple disappearance.”

For instance, the IUCN Red List, which assesses over 160,000 plant and animal species, finds that nearly one-third are at risk of extinction. Among these, 41% of amphibians, 26% of mammals, and 34% of conifer species are particularly vulnerable.

The report identifies land-use change, particularly the expansion of agricultural frontiers, as the primary driver of wildlife declines.

Susana Muhamad, Cop16 president and Colombia’s environment minister, said: “We must listen to science and take action to avoid collapse.

“Globally, we are reaching points of no return and irreversibly affecting the planet’s life-support systems. We are seeing the effects of deforestation and the transformation of natural ecosystems, intensive land use and climate change.

“The world is witnessing the mass bleaching of coral reefs, the loss of tropical forests, the collapse of polar ice caps and serious changes to the water cycle, the foundation of life on our planet,” she said.

Tropical rainforests are often converted into farmland, exacerbating habitat destruction.

Mike Barrett, WWF-UK’s director of science and conservation, emphasised that countries like the UK contribute to this destruction by importing food and livestock feed produced on former wildlands. He called for immediate policy changes to address these unsustainable practices.

“The data that we’ve got shows that the loss was driven by a fragmentation of natural habitats. What we are seeing through the figures is an indicator of a more profound change that is going on in our natural ecosystems … they are losing their resilience to external shocks and change. We are now superimposing climate change on these already degraded habitats,” said Barrett.

“I have been involved in writing these reports for 10 years and, in writing this one, it was difficult. I was shocked,” he said.

 

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