Living Planet Report reveals catastrophic wildlife decline

In today’s special bonus episode of Nature Breaking you’ll hear all about WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report. This bi-annual report functions as a check-up on the health of the Earth. Underpinning the report is the Living Planet Index, which monitors populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the world. This year the report found that monitored wildlife populations declined by an average of 73% since 1970. Importantly, this year’s report also reveals that the Earth stands on the verge of tipping points for tropical forests and coral reefs that could have severe consequences for people and nature everywhere.  Joining the show to explain the Living Planet Report is Dr. Rebecca Shaw, WWF’s chief scientist. Rebecca will walk us through the methodology of the report, what its key findings really mean for wildlife and ecosystems, and what we all can do together to put our planet on a more sustainable pathway. Links for More Info: Rebecca Shaw bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/rebecca-shaw 2024 Living Planet Report: worldwildlife.org/livingplanetreport Chapters: 0:00 Preview 0:23 Intro 2:09 LPR basics & key findings 4:42 Reasons for wildlife decline 5:51 Why should we care? 7:55 Tipping points explainer 10:21 Amazon rain forest tipping point 12:22 Rebecca’s story about living in the Amazon 13:49 Amazon tipping point continued 14:54 LPR species example: parrotfish 18:09 History of the LPR 20:56 How to reverse the loss of wildlife and nature 28:12 Message to leaders at CBD COP16 32:58 Outro