Another year, another grim press release from IUCN:
The level of threat among cycads is extremely critical, with 63 percent threatened with extinction. Cycads, the most ancient group of seed plants alive today, are subject to extremely high levels of illegal harvesting and trade, and are in danger of going the same way as the dinosaurs.Learn more
Recently, a United Nations-sponsored study called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) calculated the cost of losing nature at $2-5 trillion per year, predominantly in poorer parts of the world. A recent study found one-fifth of more than 5,000 freshwater species in Africa are threatened, putting the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on these vital resources at risk.
Failure to meet the internationally agreed 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss does not mean that conservation efforts have been in vain, as this study demonstrates. However, the erosion of biodiversity has reached such dangerous levels that we cannot afford to fail again. Ambitious targets are needed for 2020, and to meet them will require urgent and concerted action on a greatly expanded scale. It is time for the world’s Governments, meeting in Nagoya, to rise effectively to this global challenge.
Quotes from Red List Partner organizations
“We know what has to be done to save individual species from extinction,” says Alison Stattersfield, BirdLife’s Head of Science and one of the authors on the paper. “Through BirdLife’s Preventing Extinctions Programme we are taking effective and cost-effective action for the world’s Critically Endangered birds. But much more effort is needed, through NGOs, governments, businesses and committed individuals working together, to stop the slide towards extinction and start to address the root causes of biodiversity loss.”
“This study testifies to the transformative power of conservation,” says Dr Sara Oldfield, Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International. “It shows that if we can emerge from Nagoya with a clear conservation strategy and the resources to secure the future of the world’s plants, we can radically improve the status of this group of species that has such tremendous cultural and economic importance for society.”
“The critical point from our analysis is the role that conservation plays in slowing species losses. That means we can do something about this global problem by taking concerted action at local national and regional scales,” says Dr Andrew A. Rosenberg, Senior Vice President for Science and Knowledge at Conservation International and an author on the paper.
“This landmark analysis proves that, when guided by detailed data and supported by adequate financing, conservation of threatened species and their habitats works”, says Mary Klein, President and CEO of Natureserve. “We know what can and must be done to safeguard biodiversity – we just need to do much more of it.”
“A recent study on plants coordinated by Kew and involving several IUCN partners (http://www.kew.org/news/one-fifth-of-plants-under-threat-of-extinction.htm), suggested that just over one-fifth of all plant species are threatened, that most threatened plant species are found in the tropics and that the most threatening process is man-induced habitat loss,” says Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. “Conifers, with a world-wide presence in virtually all types of forest, face extinction for at least 29 percent of species. Many are ‘keystone’ species, without which their ecosystem could collapse, taking other species with them to extinction. Unsustainable logging and deforestation are the main causes. Clearly it is important to continue and increase conservation actions across the globe.”
“The conservation of biodiversity is a daunting challenge that requires a robust base of scientific information and theoretical framework. The Red List Partnership, of which our university is member, is a unique combination of centres of excellence sharing the responsibility of advancing the science of biodiversity assessment and maintaining updated information on the trends of biodiversity status,” says Dr Luigi Boitani of Sapienza University of Rome and an author on the study. “Expanding the coverage of species and monitoring their status through time is a responsibility we cannot postpone anymore.”
“The results of this study suggest that we must adopt a broader and more comprehensive approach to conservation, one that includes not only protected areas but also better strategies to work with rural communities and traditional people to conserve biodiversity in places where people use the land for their support,” says Professor Thomas Lacher, Jr. at Texas A&M University and an author on the paper. “We cannnot afford piecemeal approaches.”
“This paper is proof that conservation is working. Now we have to scale-up our efforts to match the unprecedented threats faced by the natural world,” says Professor Jonathan Baillie, Director of Conservation Programmes at the Zoological Society of London and an author on the paper.
"While the outlook for many species is still grim, this report is a testament to the real and valuable impact conservation work can have," says Harriet Nimmo, Chief Executive of Wildscreen, who are working with IUCN to help raise the public profile of the world's threatened species. "We need to urgently address our disconnection from the natural world and will only succeed in rescuing species from the brink of extinction if we successfully communicate their plight, significance, value and importance."