What’s the news?

• According to the WWF’s Living Planet Report (LPR) 2022, Wildlife populations monitored across the globe have declined by a massive 69% between 1970 and 2018.

Key Highlights of the report

• Region wise decline in wildlife population

• • According to the report, Wildlife populations have dipped by 66% in Africa and 55% in the Asia Pacific.

• Latin America and the Caribbean regions have seen the largest decline of monitored wildlife populations globally, an average decline of 94% in just five decades.

• Eg: One population of pink river dolphins in the Brazilian Amazon plummeted by 65% between 1994 and 2016.

• Decline in Vertebrate Population

• The report shows that it is within tropical regions that monitored vertebrate wildlife populations plummeting at a staggering rate.
• WWF identified six key threats to biodiversity to highlight ‘threat hotspots’ for terrestrial vertebrates such as agriculture, hunting, logging, pollution, invasive species and climate change.

• Decline in Freshwater population

• • Freshwater populations have declined by 83% on average compared to other species groups.

• Eg: Habitat loss and barriers to migration routes are responsible for about half of the threats to monitored migratory fish species.

• The IUCN Red List shows cycads are the most threatened species, while corals are declining the fastest, followed by amphibians.

• Mangrove Loss

• Mangroves continue to be lost to aquaculture, agriculture and coastal development at a rate of 0.13%  per year. Many mangroves are also degraded by overexploitation and pollution, alongside natural stressors such as storms and coastal erosion.
• Mangrove-loss represents loss of habitat for biodiversity and the loss of ecosystem services for coastal communities.
• Eg: Around 137 square kilometres of the Sundarbans mangrove forest in India and Bangladesh has been eroded since 1985, reducing land and ecosystem services for many of the 10 million people who live there.

Main Drivers for decline of wildlife population

• The report highlighted that the main drivers of wildlife population decline are habitat degradation and loss, exploitation, introduction of invasive species, pollution, climate change and disease.

Additional details

About Living Planet Report 

• • Every two years, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) publishes the Living Planet Report in association with the Zoological Society of London.
  • It is a science-based analysis on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity.

• WWF is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment.

References:

1. https://www.hindustantimes.com/environment/global-wildlife-populations-have-sunk-69-since-1970-world-wildlife-fund-report-101665629063042.html
2. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/wildlife-biodiversity/living-planet-report-2022-wildlife-populations-decline-by-69-in-50-years-85438