Wildlife populations are declining on a 'devastating' scale, says WWF

The person is Madeleine Cuff.

According to new figures, the world's wildlife populations are in dire straits, prompting environmentalists to call for urgent action to save the natural world.

Since 1970, the populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish have seen an average decline of 69 per cent.

The monitoring of 31,822 populations of 5230 species was done by theLPI.

The scale of decline is devastating according to Mark Wright. There are no positive signs that we are beginning to bend the curve of nature.

Since 1970, monitored populations have shown an average decline of 83 percent.

Between 1994 and 2016 the population of the Amazon pink river dolphin has plummeted.

The Caribbean and central and south America have seen the biggest decreases in wildlife population since 1970.

Habitat loss and degradation is the leading cause of wildlife loss in the world.

In December, governments from around the world will gather in Montreal, Canada, for the COP15 biodiversity framework, a much- delayed summit that aims to agree a set of new targets intended to halt the loss of animals, plants and habitats globally by 2030.

There is a once in a decade opportunity that is coming up. He says it's important that governments agree on targets and goals at the summit.

In order for us to see meaningful action, we need governments to have concerted action to deal with the complex threats of climate change and biodiversity.

Some researchers are not happy with the use of a headline figure of decline by theLPI.

All species are not in decline according to the findings. Half of the population shows a stable or increasing trend and the other half shows a declining trend.

It is difficult to get the world's biodiversity to a single figure. It doesn't give us an accurate understanding of what the problem is and how we can fix it.

It's better to look at it from a specific species or population point of view.

Wright says that theLPI is a useful tool that reflects the findings of other metrics. There is something terribly wrong with the indices.

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