According to the second edition of the WWF's Living Planet Report (LPR), between 1970 and 2022, there was an average global sharp decline of 73% in monitored wildlife populations. However, India has become one of the countries that has successfully achieved the recovery of certain animals, including tigers, rhinos, and Ganges dolphins.
Although the LPR does not provide data for individual countries, experts commenting on the upcoming release noted significant changes in India's biodiversity. In the country, nine mammal species are listed as 'critically endangered' according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Furthermore, 39% of 942 bird species showed a 'clear decline,' and 32% (136 species) of amphibians were 'threatened' due to a combination of factors such as climate change and agricultural practices.
The nine mammals classified as critically endangered in India include the Kashmiri deer/Hangul, Malabar large-spotted civet, Chinese pangolin, Andaman shrew, Jenkins' shrew, Nicobar shrew, Namdap's flying squirrel, large rodent, and leaf-nosed bat.
The report is based on the Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks the status of species populations worldwide. This index, developed by the Zoological Society of London, covers 35,803 population trends of 5,790 vertebrate species (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish) from 1970 to 2022.
The index recorded the sharpest reduction in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial ecosystems (-69%) and marine ecosystems (-59%) relative to the 1970 baseline. By region, the largest drop was 95% in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by 80% in Africa, 49% in the Asia-Pacific region, 28% in North America, and 23% in Europe and Central Asia.
The report states that the most frequently cited threat to monitored wildlife populations is 'habitat loss and degradation,' followed by overexploitation, climate change, pollution, invasive species, and diseases. It is noted that these threats, in turn, are caused by broader systemic failures in the food, energy, and finance sectors.
Despite the overall negative trend driven by the scale of decline, the LPR emphasized that half of the populations included in the Index are in a 'stable or growing' state. The recovery of green turtles, blue tuna, tigers, and southern African elephants was noted, demonstrating the effectiveness of targeted conservation measures.
When asked about the most important finding of the LPR indicating the growth of species in India, including tigers, Asiatic lions, common leopards, and snow leopards, Sejal Bora, Director of the WWF-India program, stated that the key message is that the country is capable of reversing the fate of wildlife populations with the right combination of factors, including political will, necessary financial resources, civil society participation, and interaction with local communities. She added that India has demonstrated the ability to restore wildlife.
However, during the presentation before the release, WWF-India highlighted certain significant changes in India's biodiversity. The organization noted that approximately 135 species of bats inhabit the country, which suffer from a lack of research and are threatened by urbanization, deforestation, land-use changes, and climate change. It was also mentioned that freshwater fish are among the most vulnerable vertebrates.
