The World Wildlife Fund reported on Thursday that monitored wildlife populations fell by an average of 73% worldwide between 1970 and 2022, with Latin America among the most affected.
The findings are contained in WWF’s sixteenth Living Planet Report 2026, titled The Science of Hope, its most emblematic biennial publication. The report is based on the Living Planet Index, which examines 35,803 population trends across 5,790 vertebrate species, including amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles.
Despite the overall drop, the report says close to half of those populations remain stable or are growing. It also states that nature can recover if positive turning points are triggered in the energy, food and financial systems.
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Freshwater ecosystems recorded the sharpest decline at 85%, followed by terrestrial ecosystems at 69% and marine ecosystems at 59%. By region, Latin America and the Caribbean saw the steepest fall at 95%, ahead of Africa at 80% and Asia-Pacific at 49%.
Habitat loss and degradation was the most frequently reported threat to these populations. Other pressures listed include overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species and disease.
The report identifies three systems behind nature destruction: food, the leading cause of habitat loss; energy, which contributes to climate change; and finance, which funds harmful activities. It warned that the world has until 2030, the deadline of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, for the food and financial systems to reach their own tipping points.
Listen to nature.
It tells us: monitored wildlife populations have declined by an average of 73% since 1970.
But it tells us this too: what falls can rise again. Elephants, tigers, green turtles, tuna. All made a comeback.
Not by chance. By people. Share with hope.… pic.twitter.com/hJOmBMq8k9
— WWF (@WWF) October 7, 2026
Roberto Troya, WWF senior vice president of country offices and regional director for Latin America, said the latest edition shows Latin America and the Caribbean has the fastest decline among the studied species, at 95% from 1970 to 2022. He described the index as deeply worrying for one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions, which is home to six megadiverse countries and a long list of endemic species.
María José Villanueva, director general of WWF Mexico, said biodiversity continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate but that there are reasons for hope. She said wildlife has returned where people have done the work, citing the recovery of wild tigers and Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna. She warned that industries and systems contributing to nature loss must be transformed for these gains to continue and expand.
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