Report: Wildlife Populations Have Declined by an Average of 69% Over the Past 50 Years

The world is a cacophony of life — a symphony of species, each with its unique note, its own rhythm. But lately, the orchestra has been faltering. The crescendo of biodiversity is giving way to a mournful dirge. The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 serves as our somber sheet music, revealing a dissonant truth: our wildlife populations have been silenced, their melodies fading into oblivion.

Wildlife Populations Decline:

• The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 reveals that wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69% over the past 50 years1. Latin America has experienced the greatest regional decline in average population abundance at 94%, while freshwater species globally have seen the greatest overall decline at 83%.
• If we fail to limit global warming to 1.5°C, climate change is likely to become the dominant cause of biodiversity loss in the coming decades

Threatened Species:

• Last year, an intergovernmental panel of scientists reported that one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction
• Global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles have plunged by an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016