London, Europe Brief news – A sharp decline was reported in the world’s wildlife populations in the past 50 years.
World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) revealed in its latest Living Planet Report that the new findings were a result of humans clearing forests and polluted the air, land and sea.
The landmark report (PDF) shows the relative abundance — the rate at which species’ population sizes are changing — of wildlife populations fell on average by 69 percent between 1970 and 2018.
The findings were based on data from ZSL featuring almost 32,000 wildlife populations of 5,230 species from across the world.
The index “highlights how we have cut away the very foundation of life. The situation continues to worsen,” said Andrew Terry, director of conservation and policy at ZSL.
“Preventing further biodiversity loss and restoring vital ecosystems has to be at the top of global agendas. This will help tackle the mounting climate, environmental and public health crises.”
The report comes two months before world leaders convene for the long-delayed UN summit on biodiversity, known as COP15, which held in Canada as a result of China’s continuing COVID-19 restrictions.
Noting the links between climate change and the loss of biodiversity, the report’s authors said the talks were a “last chance” to protect nature.