The institutional backbone of our sourcing: government agencies, UN bodies, and international conventions whose official assessments anchor the numbers you see across the site.
The authoritative global inventory of species conservation status, cited for every species profile on Wild Earth Watch — from Least Concern (Golden Eagle) to Critically Endangered (Orangutan, African Forest Elephant).
International Union for Conservation of Nature Visit IUCN Red List →The flagship biennial assessment finding a 73% average decline in monitored wildlife populations since 1970 — 85% in freshwater systems specifically, the steepest of any biome tracked.
WWF; Zoological Society of London, 2024 Read: Freshwater Ecosystems →The 2024 update behind the continent-wide population estimate of roughly 415,000 elephants, following the 2021 species split into forest and savanna elephants.
IUCN, 2024 update Read: African Elephant →NOAA's annual assessment of Arctic conditions, source of the finding that Arctic tundra has become a net carbon source for the first time in millennia.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Read: Arctic Tundra →The UN's consensus climate science assessment, source of the extinction-risk thresholds cited in our Climate Change profile (9% of species at high risk at 1.5°C, doubling to 18% at 2°C).
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Read: Climate Change →The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's forestry assessment, source of the finding that gross annual deforestation has dropped from 17.6M hectares/year in the 1990s to 10.9M in 2015–2025.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Read: Deforestation →The Convention on Wetlands' flagship report, finding 411 million hectares of wetlands lost since 1970 (a 22% decline) and $39 trillion in annual benefits at risk.
Ramsar Convention Secretariat, July 2025 Read: Wetlands →The joint scientific assessment behind the finding that wild Atlantic salmon abundance has fallen more than 50% since the 1980s across the North Atlantic.
North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization; ICES, 2023 Read: Atlantic Salmon →The Australian Institute of Marine Science's official annual condition assessment of the Great Barrier Reef, source of the regional 14–30% coral cover decline figures.
Australian Institute of Marine Science Read: Coral Reefs →The UN Office on Drugs and Crime's periodic assessment of the illegal wildlife trade, source of the finding that over 4,000 species are affected across 162 countries.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Read: Wildlife Trade →Official records of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, underlying the regulatory timelines cited in our Wildlife Trade profile.
CITES Secretariat Read: Wildlife Trade →The December 2024 decision downgrading the grey wolf's protection status under the Bern Convention, a contested policy shift covered in our Grey Wolf profile.
Council of Europe, December 2024 Read: Grey Wolf →The UK Environment Agency's periodic national survey confirming otter recolonization of every English county by 2011, following the ban on organochlorine pesticides.
Environment Agency, 2011 Read: European Otter →Independent U.S. testing data finding PFAS "forever chemicals" in an estimated 98% of tested waterways, and documented in over 600 wildlife species.
Environmental Working Group; Waterkeeper Alliance, 2025 Read: PFAS & Chemicals →Official reports are the most heavily weighted source category in our Scientific Standards framework, given their institutional review processes — but Wild Earth Watch still applies its own editorial scrutiny rather than treating any single source as beyond question.