By Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – In the world’s coldest places, and in the driest places, species of plants and animals face mounting threats to their continued existence, according to one of the world’s most comprehensive wildlife surveys released May 2 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
The Red List of Threatened Species identifies more than 16,100 plant and animal species that are threatened with extinction, put forth as evidence of the steady diminution in the Earth’s biological diversity.
“The implications of this trend for the productivity and resilience of ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people who depend on them are far-reaching,” said Achim Steiner, director general of IUCN, also known as the World Conservation Union.
Arctic creatures like the polar bear have a common and uncertain future as do the dama gazelles of the Sahara Desert despite their different habitats.
A loss of sea ice due to climate change will cause polar bear populations to decline by 30 percent in the next 45 years, predicts the report, while uncontrolled hunting parties already have killed off 80 percent off the gazelle population, giving it the status of critically endangered.
For the first time, the annual IUCN study assesses the status of selected marine life forms, finding that of the almost 550 species of sharks and rays surveyed, 20 percent are threatened with extinction.
These species are slow-growing and susceptible to over-fishing, according to a May 2 news release, and have virtually disappeared in Northern European waters where they once were common.
The Red List further reports that freshwater fish species also have suffered sharp declines – 56 percent of more than 250 species in the Mediterranean region are threatened with extinction, the most severe loss detected in any single region, according to IUCN.
Certain species of the carp family are now extinct in Croatia and Turkey.
The decline of freshwater fish populations could have the most immediate effect on the human population in regions where a large percentage of the food supply is drawn from the waters. In Malawi, for example, freshwater fish comprise 70 percent of dietary protein, but populations of the lake trout there have dropped by 50 percent in 10 years.
Size is no apparent advantage in the struggle for survival.
The Red List calls the hippopotamus a vulnerable species for the first time, largely because of its dramatic decline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to Africa’s second largest hippo population. An estimated 1994 population of 30,000 now is decimated by 95 percent.
“Regional conflicts and political instability in some African countries have created hardship for many of the region’s inhabitants and the impact on wildlife has been equally devastating,” said Jeffrey McNeeley, IUCN’s chief scientist.
Even thoug the Red List is a catalog of decline, it also offers hope for the possibility of restoring endangered species, with successful examples of population recovery in a variety of places.
“Conservation successes document that we should not be passive bystanders in the unfolding tragedy of biodiversity loss and species extinction,” said Steiner.
The Unites States supports the preservation of biologic diversity through a variety of multilateral initiatives.
The Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking was launched in September 2005 to fight the $10 billion annual black market in wildlife and wildlife parts. This form of trafficking is driving species of elephants, tigers, tropical birds and many others to near extinction. (See related article.)
Through the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and Tropical Forest Conservation Act’s debt-for-nature program, the United States is contributing or generating $150 million to conserve tropical forests worldwide, an activity that will help preserve habitat for the diverse native wildlife species. (See related article.)
The United States also is sponsoring international conferences on forest law enforcement in Asia, Africa and Europe to foster political commitment to fight forest crime.
The U.S. Department of State and other agencies engaged in conservation and natural resources are members of the World Conservation Union.
A fact sheet on U.S. international partnerships for conservation is available on the State Department Web site.
The Red List of Threatened Species is available on the World Conservation Union Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – In the world’s coldest places, and in the driest places, species of plants and animals face mounting threats to their continued existence, according to one of the world’s most comprehensive wildlife surveys released May 2 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
The Red List of Threatened Species identifies more than 16,100 plant and animal species that are threatened with extinction, put forth as evidence of the steady diminution in the Earth’s biological diversity.
“The implications of this trend for the productivity and resilience of ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of billions of people who depend on them are far-reaching,” said Achim Steiner, director general of IUCN, also known as the World Conservation Union.
Arctic creatures like the polar bear have a common and uncertain future as do the dama gazelles of the Sahara Desert despite their different habitats.
A loss of sea ice due to climate change will cause polar bear populations to decline by 30 percent in the next 45 years, predicts the report, while uncontrolled hunting parties already have killed off 80 percent off the gazelle population, giving it the status of critically endangered.
For the first time, the annual IUCN study assesses the status of selected marine life forms, finding that of the almost 550 species of sharks and rays surveyed, 20 percent are threatened with extinction.
These species are slow-growing and susceptible to over-fishing, according to a May 2 news release, and have virtually disappeared in Northern European waters where they once were common.
The Red List further reports that freshwater fish species also have suffered sharp declines – 56 percent of more than 250 species in the Mediterranean region are threatened with extinction, the most severe loss detected in any single region, according to IUCN.
Certain species of the carp family are now extinct in Croatia and Turkey.
The decline of freshwater fish populations could have the most immediate effect on the human population in regions where a large percentage of the food supply is drawn from the waters. In Malawi, for example, freshwater fish comprise 70 percent of dietary protein, but populations of the lake trout there have dropped by 50 percent in 10 years.
Size is no apparent advantage in the struggle for survival.
The Red List calls the hippopotamus a vulnerable species for the first time, largely because of its dramatic decline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to Africa’s second largest hippo population. An estimated 1994 population of 30,000 now is decimated by 95 percent.
“Regional conflicts and political instability in some African countries have created hardship for many of the region’s inhabitants and the impact on wildlife has been equally devastating,” said Jeffrey McNeeley, IUCN’s chief scientist.
Even thoug the Red List is a catalog of decline, it also offers hope for the possibility of restoring endangered species, with successful examples of population recovery in a variety of places.
“Conservation successes document that we should not be passive bystanders in the unfolding tragedy of biodiversity loss and species extinction,” said Steiner.
The Unites States supports the preservation of biologic diversity through a variety of multilateral initiatives.
The Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking was launched in September 2005 to fight the $10 billion annual black market in wildlife and wildlife parts. This form of trafficking is driving species of elephants, tigers, tropical birds and many others to near extinction. (See related article.)
Through the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and Tropical Forest Conservation Act’s debt-for-nature program, the United States is contributing or generating $150 million to conserve tropical forests worldwide, an activity that will help preserve habitat for the diverse native wildlife species. (See related article.)
The United States also is sponsoring international conferences on forest law enforcement in Asia, Africa and Europe to foster political commitment to fight forest crime.
The U.S. Department of State and other agencies engaged in conservation and natural resources are members of the World Conservation Union.
A fact sheet on U.S. international partnerships for conservation is available on the State Department Web site.
The Red List of Threatened Species is available on the World Conservation Union Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)