World must act now as global wildlife falls 73 pc, WWF report finds
LONDON: A major new report from WWF has warned that the world must urgently seize a shrinking window of opportunity to reverse a steep decline in global wildlife. According to the Living Planet Report 2026, monitored vertebrate populations have plummeted by an average of 73% since 1970 due to habitat loss, overexploitation and climate change.
The research, based on the Living Planet Index compiled by the Zoological Society of London, provides the most detailed overview yet of global biodiversity. The sharpest drops were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, which saw a 95% decrease, and in freshwater ecosystems, which fell by 85%.
The loss of nature poses severe economic and societal challenges, threatening food and water security. Extreme weather across the UK and Europe this summer caused wildfires and damaged crops, leading to what is expected to be the worst UK harvest on record.
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF-UK, highlighted the urgency of the situation. "Nature loss is not just a crisis for wildlife," she said. "We stand at a fork in the road: either we continue paying the rising price of nature loss, or we invest in nature's recovery and a future where people and wildlife can thrive together. The window to secure that future is closing fast, but successful conservation efforts from tuna to tigers show that we can succeed. Governments, businesses and communities must pull together to drive the transformations we need to see in food, energy and finance to bring our world back to life."
To halt the destruction of nature, the report argues that positive tipping points must be triggered in the food and finance sectors, similar to the transition currently under way in renewable energy. The food and agriculture system remains the largest driver of biodiversity loss, and the charity is calling for a shift towards nature-friendly farming, the expansion of clean energy and sustainable investments.
Dr Louise McRae of the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology said, "This year's Living Planet Index shows the need for rapid action to address the continued decline in biodiversity. However, behind every global statistic is evidence of wildlife populations rebounding and habitats recovering, driven by people working together to reverse biodiversity loss. As the extreme weather of recent months reminds us, our wellbeing is intrinsically linked to the health of the planet. Access to affordable food, economic security and resilience to climate-related risks here in the UK all depend on thriving wildlife at home and across the globe, and on functioning ecosystems that can adapt to change. Through immediate and coordinated action across all sectors of society, nature can recover."
The report emphasises that nature can recover rapidly when given the chance. Coordinated conservation efforts have led to Atlantic bluefin tuna returning to UK waters and global wild tiger numbers increasing by more than 70% between 2010 and 2025. Furthermore, the green sea turtle was downlisted to 'Least Concern' on the IUCN Red List in 2025.
Dr Steve Smith from Exeter University added that the decline of nature is a result of human choices rather than an inevitable fate. "For years the Living Planet Index has recorded nature's decline, but this report also shows how quickly recovery can happen," he said. "Tigers, green turtles, and bluefin tuna have gone from being the unwanted poster children of overhunting and overfishing to being among the greatest recovery stories of our time, within a single generation, because governments, businesses and the public all pulled in the same direction at once. The same positive tipping points can transform our energy, food and finance systems. Just as solar power went from niche to dominant in a generation, nature's decline is not inevitable. It's the sum of our choices, and these choices can tip."
