Endangered Species

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

Oct 13 2002 (IPS) - On planet Earth, there are 11,167 species of animals and plants that are known to be in danger of extinction, warns the latest edition of the so-called “Red List” published by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), considered an important tool for evaluating the state of biological diversity. The Red List of Threatened Species 2002 includes 121 entries more than in the previous edition, from 2000.

In an information kit accompanying the Red List, the IUCN warns that many species are diminishing to critical population levels. The conservation organizations also states that the loss of biodiversity is one of the most pressing crises affecting the world, while acknowledging that concern and awareness are increasing about how biological resources are needed for human life as well.

The species included in the Red List are categorized according to their level of risk: critical, threatened or vulnerable. The IUCN estimates that the threat of extinction today is 1,000 to 10,000 times greater than it would be naturally, without the intervention of human activities and their impacts on the Earth.

Habitat destruction, overexploitation of resources, contamination, illegal trafficking in plant and animal species, degradation of ecosystems and phenomena related to climate change – caused by human activities – are all factors that contribute to species extinction.

Threats to biodiversity, understood as the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit the planet, are a source of concern to the international community, as evidenced by the sheer amount of information available on the this issue via the Internet.

This widespread worry about the Earth's natural wealth has led to agreements among the world's governments. Perhaps the most important on this issue is the Convention on Biological Diversity, signed in 1992. The website of the Convention's secretariat reports that there are 13 million identified living species.

But it is thought that the true total is much higher. The All Species Foundation is carrying out a project that seeks to identify all living organisms within the next 25 years. Its website allows the cybernaut to ponder more than 800,000 species.

Another initiative aimed at protecting species is the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, known as CITES, the purpose of which is to fight the illegal trafficking of protected plants and animals.