Living Planet Report 2022

Context

Living Planet Report 2022 found drastic decline in the global wildlife population.

About Living Planet Report

• Living Planet Report is WWF’s flagship publication.
• Living Planet Report 2022 is a joint endeavor of the World Wildlife Fund and Zoological Society of London.
• It is released every two years.
• It is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and health of the planet. 
• It tracks changes in the relative abundance of wild species populations across the globe.
• The LPI is continually changing with 838 new species and 11,011 new populations being added to the dataset since the 2020 LPR was released.
• There has been a significant increase in the number of fish species (481) that have been added to the Living Planet Report. 

Major outcomes of the report

• Decline in Population: There has been a 69 percent decline in the wildlife populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish, across the globe in the last 50 years.
• The freshwater populations have declined the most, with an average 83% decline between 1970 and 2018.
• The IUCN Red List shows cycads, an ancient group of seed plants, are the most threatened species, while corals are declining the fastest, followed by amphibians.
• Region wise assessment: The highest decline (94 percent) was in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
• Africa recorded a 66 per cent fall in its wildlife populations from 1970-2018.
• Asia Pacific’s monitored populations fell by 55%. 
• Southeast Asia is the region where species are most likely to face threats at a significant level.
• The Polar Regions and the east coast of Australia and South Africa showed the highest impact probabilities for climate change, driven in particular by impact on birds.
• Mangroves: Mangroves continue to be lost to aquaculture, agriculture and coastal development at a rate of 0.13 percent per year.
• Mangrove-loss represents loss of habitat for biodiversity and the loss of ecosystem services for coastal communities. 
• 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.
• Corals: About 50% of warm water corals have already been lost and a warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius will lead to a loss of 70-90% of warm water corals. 
• The Bramble Cay melomys, a small Australian rodent, was declared extinct after sea-level rise. 
• Sharks: The global abundance of 18 of 31 oceanic sharks has declined by 71% over the last 50 years and the report said that by 2020 three-quarters of sharks and rays were threatened with extinction. 
• Others: Only 37% of rivers longer than 1,000km remain free-flowing over their entire length.
• 41% land-use change is the biggest current threat to nature.
• Report says action is needed to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and keep global warming to 1.5ºC.
• By moving to sustainable, healthy, and culturally appropriate diets we can reduce agricultural landuse by 41% and wildlife loss by up to 46%.