Animal populations down 68% since 1970

Wildlife populations are in freefall, according to a Guardian article about the new Living Planet Report 2020.

Written by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and WWF, the report says global populations of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles were down by 68% between 1970 and 2016. The astonishing drops are driven by human over-consumption, population growth and intensive agriculture.

134 experts were involved in research for the report, and they found exploitation of rainforests on an unprecedented scale.

Lead researcher Robin Freeman of ZSL said:

It seems that we’ve spent 10 to 20 years talking about these declines and not really managed to do anything about it. It frustrates me and upsets me. We sit at our desks and compile these statistics but they have real-life implications. It’s really hard to communicate how dramatic some of these declines are.

There was a 94% fall in vertebrate populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Deforestation, and conversion of wild spaces to areas for human food production, are largely to blame for the destruction of Earth’s web of life.

The only ray of light is that some species can recover, with conservation efforts.