Living Planet Report 2026

Nature is disappearing – but it’s not too late to bring it back.

DOWNLOAD REPORT DOWNLOAD REPORT IN SPANISH

Like every other species on Earth, people depend on nature. Yet we are destroying the living systems that sustain us.

For three decades, WWF’s Living Planet Report has charted the shocking decline in the state of nature. The latest edition shows that wildlife continues to be lost at an alarming rate. But it also finds signs of hope: when we act together, nature can recover. And change can happen quicker than we think.

Nature is disappearing

73%

Average change in wildlife population sizes.

Wildlife populations are plummeting. The size of populations of wild species fell by 73% on average between 1970 and 2022, according to the Living Planet Index.

This is based on scientific monitoring data from 35,803 populations and 5,790 species of amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, and reptiles.

Freshwater species are faring worst, with average population sizes plunging -85%.

At a regional level, the steepest declines since 1970 have been recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean (-95%), Africa (-80%), and Asia and the Pacific (-49%).

Nature is in crisis – but there are signs of hope. While the headline statistics make grim reading, not all species are declining. In fact, around half the populations in the Living Planet Index are stable or even increasing.

Halting and reversing the loss of nature is possible.

Restoring nature

Around the world, we see remarkable stories of nature’s recovery. From local to global levels, conservation makes a real difference.

Numbers of iconic species like tigers, bluefin tuna, and green turtles have rebounded in recent years thanks to ambitious collective efforts.

These recoveries give us hope. But they’re not enough.

To restore the health of our planet, we need to address the root causes of nature loss – like burning fossil fuels for energy, converting natural habitats to produce food, and a finance system that allows companies to profit from destroying the environment.

Triggering transformation

Transforming these systems at the scale and pace required may seem like an impossible task. But change can happen remarkably quickly.

We’ve already reached a positive tipping point in the energy transition: solar and wind power are growing exponentially and the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating.

Opportunities exist to trigger rapid change in the way we produce and consume food, transforming our food system from the main driver of biodiversity loss to an ally in nature’s recovery.

In finance, changing the rules of the game could redirect hundreds of billions of dollars away from industries and activities that harm the planet toward sustainable solutions.

The Living Planet Report 2026 shows both the scale of the challenge and the real momentum for change. We know what’s driving nature’s decline, and we know the actions that can reverse it. What happens next depends on the choices we make now – and we all have a part to play.

See the signs of recovery and explore how we can accelerate nature’s recovery – or download the full report to dive deeper into the science, data and solutions shaping a nature‑positive future.

“The Living Planet Report documents a sobering decline. But it also points to a powerful force we can harness to reverse that decline. That force is nature's capacity to recover when we act with urgency and scale."

Carter Roberts
President & CEO, WWF-US

Download the Living Planet Report 2026

FULL REPORT FULL REPORT IN SPANISH