2026 Living Planet Report

WWF's Living Planet Report 2026 shows a devastating loss of biodiversity over a 52-year period: On average there has been a 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations. At the same time, evidence indicates that wildlife can recover, if we address the drivers of nature loss in the energy, food and finance systems.

While the overall percentage change is consistent with the 2024 Living Planet Report, the updated assessment incorporates additional population data and longer monitoring time, underscoring the continued scale of biodiversity loss.

The Living Planet Index (LPI), produced by ZSL (Zoological Society of London), includes  35,803 population trends of 5,790 vertebrate species from 1970 to 2022. The report notes the strongest decline is in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial (-69%) and then marine (-59%) species.

Although the overall trend is negative due to the magnitude of the declining trends, half of the populations included in the LPI are stable or increasing.