Living Planet Report 2026: monitored wildlife populations down 73% since 1970

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Between 1970 and 2022, the average size of monitored vertebrate wildlife populations fell by 73%, according to the Living Planet Report 2026, published by WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The index tracks 35,803 populations across 5,790 species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. The global average hides a split: half of tracked populations are stable or increasing, and tigers, tuna, elephants, and sea turtles have staged documented recoveries.

The report attributes most declines to habitat loss and degradation, followed by overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and disease—pressures tied to failures in food, energy, and finance systems. It argues that conservation alone cannot reverse the trend and pinpoints a $942 billion annual gap in biodiversity finance. The report's central claim is that positive tipping points in those systems, already visible in solar energy and emerging in food production, could make recovery self-reinforcing.

Why it matters

The decline tracks the health of ecosystems that supply food, water, and climate stability; the test is closing the $942 billion annual biodiversity finance gap.

Questions about this story

Free account needed to ask — your question is kept and asked for you right after sign-up. Answers are public.

what are some good examples of a few specific animals?

Tigers, bluefin tuna, southern African elephants, and green sea turtles are the report's headline examples of species that recovered under sustained, coordinated conservation.

Why it matters: They show targeted action can reverse steep declines, even as the overall average keeps falling.

Wild tigers: about 3,200 in 2010 to roughly 5,700 by 2025, up more than 70%, after national recovery plans, ranger units, protected areas, and anti-trafficking work; they still occupy less than 8% of their historic range.
Atlantic bluefin tuna had fallen 80% by 2010; Pacific bluefin collapsed to 2% of unfished levels. Coordinated quotas, size limits, spawning-area protections, and dockside monitoring brought both back — neither is now considered overfished.
Green sea turtles: downlisted from Endangered to Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in 2025, the first marine turtle to make that move, after 50 years of work across some 80 nesting countries; monitored nesting rose from about 419,000 clutches in 2011 to roughly 526,000 in 2024.
Southern African elephants: stable or growing in places where local communities lead land management through community-based natural resource management, though African savannah elephants remain Endangered overall.

Sources

Room for disagreement

Some researchers caution the 73% headline is an average of monitored populations, not a measure of total animals lost; The Conversation notes many species aren't monitored at all, so the index may miss a large part of the picture.
WWF uses the recoveries to argue for hope, but the report itself warns conservation alone cannot reverse the overall decline — it calls for transforming the food, energy, and finance systems driving habitat loss.

AI-generated with web search — may be wrong. Check the linked sources.

Key Indicators

73%

Average decline in monitored vertebrate populations since 1970

Mean proportional change in population size across 35,803 records from 1970 to 2022.

35,803

Population records analyzed

Monitoring data from sites worldwide, weighted to favor under-sampled regions.

50%

Of tracked populations stable or increasing

43% increasing and 7% stable, while 50% are in decline.

85%

Average decline in freshwater populations

Freshwater ecosystems show the steepest loss, ahead of terrestrial (69%) and marine (59%).

$942B

Annual biodiversity finance gap

Estimated yearly shortfall the report says must be closed to halt nature loss.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

Organizations Involved

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature)

Environmental NGO

Co-publisher of the Living Planet Report

International conservation NGO that publishes the biennial Living Planet Report.

Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

Scientific and conservation charity

Produces the Living Planet Index

Scientific charity that runs London Zoo and produces the Living Planet Index dataset.

Timeline

1970 October 2026

5 events Latest: 3 days ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
Living Planet Report 2026 confirms 73% decline
Latest Report

WWF and ZSL release the 2026 edition, showing a 73% average decline across 35,803 populations of 5,790 species from 1970 to 2022.
3 days ago
October 2024
2024 report revises decline to 73%
Report

Living Planet Report 2024 reports 73% with a larger dataset covering a longer period.
October 2024
October 2022
2022 report shows 69% average decline
Report

Living Planet Report 2022 measures a 69% average drop in monitored populations since 1970.
October 2022
1998
First Living Planet Report published
Report

WWF launches the first edition of its biennial assessment of global biodiversity.
1998
1970
Living Planet Index baseline begins
Milestone

Year the index's population records start, used as the reference point for all later change.
1970

Scenarios

Next Living Planet Report shows decline continues or deepens

Likely Resolves by Oct 1, 2028

Discussed by: WWF and ZSL, whose index has held at roughly 73% for two consecutive cycles

If habitat loss and overexploitation continue without systemic change in food, energy, and finance, the next biennial report would show an average decline at or above 73%. The report's own data keep half of populations stable or increasing, so the outcome depends on whether declining trends outpace recoveries.

COP17 adopts commitments to close the nature finance gap

Possible Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: WWF, which frames finance as the least advanced of three systems and calls for closing the $942 billion annual gap

The report argues biodiversity finance is still in early stages, needing movement toward stopping harmful funding, valuing nature as material risk, and creating regulatory certainty. A strong outcome at the next Convention on Biological Diversity conference would include quantified funding commitments tied to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 2030 targets.

Half of monitored populations stay stable or recovering

Possible Resolves by Oct 1, 2028

Discussed by: ZSL data, which shows 50% of populations stable or increasing, and the report's 'Science of Hope' framing

The 2026 index found 43% of populations increasing and 7% stable. If conservation gains and early systemic shifts hold, the next report could maintain the 50% share or expand it, matching the report's argument that decline is not fixed in place where interventions persist.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2010–2020

Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2010–2020)

In 2010, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted 20 targets in Aichi, Japan, including halving natural habitat loss and preventing the extinction of threatened species by 2020.

Then

The United Nations' 2020 Global Biodiversity Outlook concluded that most Aichi targets were missed.

Now

The shortfall drove negotiation of a new post-2020 framework, shifting the baseline for measuring progress.

Why this matters now

The missed Aichi targets illustrate the gap between global commitments and implementation that the 2026 report highlights with its $942 billion finance shortfall.

December 2022

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (2022)

At COP15 in Montreal, 196 countries adopted targets including protecting 30% of land and seas by 2030 and mobilizing $200 billion annually in biodiversity finance.

Then

Countries committed to align their national biodiversity plans with the new framework.

Now

Implementation is underway; the 2026 report measures the gap between these pledges and current funding flows.

Why this matters now

The 2026 report's $942 billion annual finance gap directly measures the shortfall against the framework's finance goals.

1982–present

California condor recovery (1982–present)

By 1982, only 22 California condors remained in the wild; all were brought into a captive breeding program.

Then

Captive breeding and release rebuilt the wild population to several hundred birds.

Now

The species remains endangered but stands as a documented example of recovery through sustained intervention.

Why this matters now

The condor's return matches the report's finding that half of monitored populations are stable or increasing, and that targeted conservation produces measurable recoveries.