Global Wildlife Populations Decline: An Urgent Call for Conservation
Monitored wildlife populations have fallen sharply since 1970. What is driving the decline, and the conservation efforts that are working.
The natural world is under growing pressure. WWF's Living Planet Report 2024 found an average decline of 73% in monitored wildlife populations since 1970, a stark measure of how human activity is reshaping ecosystems.
What is driving the decline
- Habitat loss, largely from agriculture and development, is the biggest single threat.
- Overexploitation through overfishing and hunting.
- Climate change, which is shifting habitats and intensifying extreme weather.
- Invasive species and pollution.
Australia's special challenge
Australia is home to many species found nowhere else on Earth and has one of the world's worst records for mammal extinctions since European settlement. Bushfires, including the catastrophic 2019–20 season, and invasive predators such as feral cats and foxes add to the pressure.
Conservation that works
There is good news. Protected areas, habitat restoration and species recovery programmes have brought some populations back from the brink. Predator-free sanctuaries in Australia, for example, have helped threatened native mammals recover.
What individuals can do
Support conservation organisations, choose sustainably sourced food and products, reduce waste, and back policies that protect habitats. Collective action, from governments down to households, is what turns decline into recovery.
