Living Planet Index, 1970-2012

Founded in 1961, the WWF or World Wide Fund for Nature is one of the largest global environmental protection NGOs. Its Living Planet Index (LPI) is a benchmark. The LPI measures biodiversity by collecting data on the abundance of various species and the way they have evolved over time (14,152 populations of 3,706 species of vertebrae: mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles across the whole globe). The graph shows that from 1970 to 2012, global LPI experienced an average decrease of 58%, with, respectively, 36% in the marine environment, 38% in the terrestrial environment, and 81% in fresh water.