WWF finds 27% decline in wildlife for Earth

William Atkins
Sunday, 18 May 2008 20:23

Science - Biology

The World Wide Fund for Nature collected data from nearly 4,000 species spanning a 35-year period. According to its study, land-based and water-based species declined 27% from 1970 to 2005.


The Living Planet Report is a periodic investigative statement by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) on the state of ecosystems on Earth. It consists of the Living Planet Index (a report on the health of ecosystems) and the Ecological Footprint (a report on the extent that humans affect ecosystems).

The Report was funded by the WWF, the Zoological Society of London, and the Global Footprint Network.

Among the species tracked by the WWF were 302 species of mammals, 811 species of birds, 241 species of fish, 83 species of amphibians, and 40 reptile species.

According to the Living Planet Index (1.5 MB pdf file), WWF investigators found that in a ten-period period of time, between 1995 and 2005:

The number of land species declined by 25%,

The number of marine species decreased by 28%, and

The number of freshwater species were reduced by 29%.

Overall—from 1970 to 2005—the number of land-based and water-based (marine and freshwater) species dropped by 27%.

The Report claims that such a decline in our recent history is ten thousand (10,000) times more rapid that what has been found historically since such figures have been collected by scientists.

Colin Butfield, head of campaigns at the WWF in the United Kingdom, described such declines as “alarming.” Butfield stated that such decreases in biodiversity on the Earth “underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all of our lives.” [InTheNews: “Biodiversity cut by a third since 1970”]

What is causing this decline in species? See what the WWF says on the next page.