Report: Worldwide wildlife populations have declined 69% since 1970

Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Wildlife populations have declined by 69% since 1970, according to a report from the World Wildlife Fund. Wildlife populations declined the worst in Latin America and the Caribbean, with an average decline of 94%.

The Living Planet Report 2022 said that while conservation efforts are helping, "urgent action is required if we are able to reverse nature loss."

The wildlife population decline includes mammals, amphibians, reptiles and fish.

"These plunges in wildlife populations can have dire consequences for our health and economies," said Rebecca Shaw, global chief scientist of WWF, in a statement. "When wildlife populations decline to this degree, it means dramatic changes are impacting their habitats and the food and water they rely on. We should care deeply about the unraveling of natural systems because these same resources sustain human life."

The World Wildlife Fund statement said the upcoming Conference of Parties to the Convention of Biological Diversity in December will be a "once-in-a-decade opportunity" to course-correct the loss of natural wildlife.

"The world is waking up to the fact that our future depends on reversing the loss of nature just as much as it depends on addressing climate change. And you can't solve one without solving the other," Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF-US, said in a statement. "Everyone has a role to play in reversing these trends, from individuals to companies to governments."

Flor Delicia Ramos Barba can see the wildlife loss all around her living in an indigenous community in Santa Cruz Bolivia. She said in a statement that she's noticed a big difference in wildlife populations compared with her childhood.

"The animals in the community are now gone. We also feel this lack in the rivers," Barba said in a statement. "The people used to go fishing to support their families, but now there are no fish. Tree species have also been disappearing."

The WWF Living Planet Index tracks wildlife population and in 2022 analyzed almost 32,000 species populations. It found that freshwater fish populations dropped 83% since 1970.

In September 2020 the Worldwide Wildlife Foundation and Zoological Society of London found a similar decline.

They said then that until 1970, "Humanity's ecological footprint was smaller than Earth's rate of regeneration," but for 21st century lifestyles Earth's bio-capacity is being overused by at least 56%.