Baraza

Category: Emergencies | Date: Oct 06 2008 | By: baraza

I could kick myself for canceling a trip to attend the IUCN World Conservation Congress meeting in Barcelona. I attended the previous Congress in Bangkok which was a great meeting of conservation professionals, except in retrospect I realise that there was alot of talk and not much achieved … except species continue to slide towards extinction. In its first of the 10 days of meeting the report has revealed an alarming statistic that a quarter of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction.

It seems that every study on biodiversity reveals increasing threats to species - many of my colleagues form university were involved in this study so I believe the statistics.

Mammals are not faring very well

Imagine if one in four mammals actually went extinct! Some of the species at greatest risk include Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) which may number fewer than 150 and continue to decline due to a shortage of its primary prey, the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

The Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) has declined by more than 60 percent in the last 10 years due to a fatal infectious facial cancer, while Southeast Asias  Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) has become endangered due to habitat loss in wetlands.

Mammals in Asia are especially vulnerable because they are hunted for food and traditional medicines. Rapid rates of development and population growth also means that habitats are shrinking and as a result of these combined threats, more than 70 per cent of known species in Asia, are now under threat.

Reptiles and amphibians are doing much worse

Other groups of animals are faring even worse. Thirty-one percent of reptiles, 30 percent of amphibians and 37 percent of fish are deemed threatened. In total, 22 percent of assessed species are nearing extinction, and thousands more animals, especially reptiles and fish, have yet to be evaluated. Birds are not faring as badly as the other groups,  almost one in eight birds are threatened.The main reason for these threats include habitat loss and over exploitation of terrestrial mammals and marine mammals, and pollution, and global warming …it is ironic that human populations meanwhile are on the increase.

African Elephants are recovering in some places

Thankfully it’s not all bad news. Apparently African elephants are less endangered than before as a result of effective conservaiton efforts and the ivory ban in Southern and Eastern Africa. Five percent of mammals are actually doing better than before, these include the black footed ferret which was extinct in the wild but has now been reintroduced. The Chinese Père David’s Deer (Elaphurus davidianus) though now extinct in the wild may yet recover. The captive population has increased in recent years and it is possible that free-ranging populations could soon be re-established.

The IUCN study and related issues are under discussion by more than 8,000 peope who are attending the World Conservation Congress.  I wish I could feel hopeful, somehow I doubt that they will actually come up with a workable game plan for a sustainable future. However I was pleasantly surprised to read Cindy Ellen Hills article explaining how the Institute for Environmental Security handles the threat of lack of security to species in an article called Waging a Sustainble Peace

“key military leaders at an invitation-only roundtable to spearhead a paradigm shift in thinking about the intersection of environmental issues and local, regional, and national security.

The IUCN Roundtable on Environment and Security will match representatives from the military (USA, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Nepal, Mauretania), NATO, and other members of the world’s security community with key environmental leaders to explore strategies for waging an environmentally sustainable peace.”

I am curious about what the security meeting will conclude but in general I doubt that “Barcelona” will get enough attention to really gain political will for conservation. One major problem is timing, this meeting couldn’t have come at a worse time with global attention focused on the worlds unfolding financial crisis.  It’s a pity, many scientist are convinced that we are witnessing the sixth wave of extinctions, and it’s entirely man made. We could lose nearly a quarter of the worlds species just because we don’t care enough. I was looking at these photos from the wildlife photographer of the year competition and couldn’t help feeling  sad that some species will never be photographed in the wild again.

For more detailed info and official documents go here I can’t find a single blog from the congress… if you find any please send me the link.

Tags: endangered species, extinction, Gorillas, IUCN