Daily Times

The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Living Planet Report (LPR) 2024; the 15th edition of WWF’s biennial flagship publication launched on Thursday claimed that there has been a catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations in just 50 years (1970-2020).

The report warns that, as the Earth approaches dangerous tipping points posing grave threats to humanity, a huge collective effort will be required over the next five years to tackle the dual climate and nature crises, a news release said.

The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by ZSL (Zoological Society of London), includes almost 35,000 population trends of over 5,000 species from 1970-2020. The strongest decline is in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial (-69%) and then marine populations (-56%).

Habitat loss and degradation, driven primarily by our food system, which accounts for 70% of water use and over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, is the most reported threat to wildlife populations around the world; followed by overexploitation, invasive species and disease. Climate change is a particular additional threat for wildlife populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, which have recorded a staggering 95% average decline.

Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General WWF-Pakistan stated, “Declining wildlife populations are early warning indicators of increasing extinction risk and the potential loss of healthy ecosystems. When ecosystems are damaged, they cease to provide the benefits we have come to depend on – clean air, water and healthy soils for food.”

The report states that global tipping points, such as the dieback of the Amazon rainforest and the mass die-off of coral reefs, would create shockwaves far beyond the immediate area impacting food security and livelihoods. In the Amazon, regional and global rainfall patterns could change, impacting food production and shifting the Amazon from a carbon sink to a source of emissions.