Wildlife Faces Major Decline: WWF

World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a wildlife conservation group, said in its report that wildlife populations have fallen by more than 70 percent in less than 50 years.

The report states that the "catastrophic decline" shows no sign of slowing and also warns that nature is being destroyed by humans at a very rapid rate.

The WWF releases its report every two years, revealing how far species populations have declined since 1970 which is considered an important marker for the overall health of ecosystems.

According to the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report 2020, nearly 21,000 monitored populations of mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians, encompassing almost 4,400 species around the world, have declined an average of 68% between 1970 and 2016.

Dr Andrew Terry, Director of conservation at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), says that the decline was a clear evidence of the damage human activity has caused to nature.

"If nothing changes, populations will undoubtedly continue to fall, driving wildlife to extinction and threatening the integrity of the ecosystems on which we depend," he added.

The report suggests that to turn the tide we must transform the way we produce and consume food, including reducing food waste and eating food with a lower environmental impact.

The UN is slated to reveal its latest assessment of the state of nature worldwide next Tuesday.