The WWF's Living Planet Index (LPI) is a quick and penetrating read. It isn't really worth it to summarize except to point out that it is mainly discusses full number loss not species loss. I heard a radio announcer say that according to the WWF, half of the world's species have gone extinct in the last 10 years and that just simply isn't true. That would be an earth- scale mass extinction. However, we are in the beginning stages of one of those and it is estimated that if no changes occur, by 2050 30% of species currently existing will not. Elizabeth Kolbert points to this in her new book and so does the Center for Biological Diversity. But, the LPI is about the amount of populations decreased. That is a different story and one correlated to extinction but easier to reverse. Here are some takeaways from the report: 

 “in less than two human generations, population sizes of vertebrate species have dropped by half. These are the living forms that constitute the fabric of the ecosystems”

“Forests, for example, provide shelter, livelihoods, water, fuel and food to 2 billion people directly, and help regulate the climate for everyone on the planet. Marine ecosystems support more than 660 million jobs globally and are a significant source of protein, particularly in developing countries.”

“Falling by 76 per cent, populations of freshwater species declined more rapidly than marine (39 per cent) and terrestrial populations.”

“By importing resources, high-income countries in particular, may effectively be outsourcing biodiversity loss. While high income countries appear to show an increase (10 per cent) in biodiversity, middle-income countries show declines (18 per cent), and low-income countries show dramatic and marked declines (58 per cent).”

and my personal favorite:

"While better design and management is needed to help protected areas to achieve their full potential, evidence suggests they have a significant role to play in halting declines in biodiversity."

Also, this report is one of the best at summing up and explaining environmental economics. I highly recommend exploring the last couple chapters about the capacities of sustainable growth. And I love the quote they use: any valuation of ecosystem services is a “gross underestimate of infinity”, since without them there can be no life on Earth. 

The report is full of ups and downs but there is a huge message in it. There are actions that are working. Every conservation professional should find hope that when their actions are taken into account, the loss of habitat and biodiversity is less and in some places reversed. The report calls out specifically that "the most important conservation takes place on the ground, as part of a living culture." This is what is needed: to make it part of the culture, part of the normal.