Animal populations around the world are on the decline and conservationists say it’s happening fast.
“We are losing nature at an alarming and unprecedented rate,” Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International told CBS News.
The World Wildlife Fund released its Living Planet Report for 2022, which studies the health of the planet and trends in biodiversity.
Overall, the report found a 69 percent decline in monitored wildlife populations globally between 1970 and 2018.
Regionally, Latin America saw the sharpest decrease in animal abundance, with 94 percent drop.
“The average drop in freshwater population was 83%. You know, these are huge numbers,” Professor Jon Lovett, chair in Global Challenges, University of Leeds told CBS News.
According to the report, the two biggest threats to biodiversity include human-caused climate changes and increased land use for agriculture.
The WWF says efforts to revive some species have proven successful, but it’s going to take a global effort to transition to a nature-positive future.
“So, where communities care, big things are happening. And so, one of the big hopes moving forward, is that we have more action across the globe to protect the species of the planet,”CBS News was informed by Dr. Rebecca Shaw from WWF.