02/05/2006 - Gland, Switzerland
— The IUCN 2006 Red List highlights the serious
situation the world's biodiversity is facing,
and to some extent highlights what we already
know. Threats to biodiversity are at an all time
high, caused by detrimental human activities across
the globe. The loss of species is an indication
of the degraded state of our planet.
“This is not just about more
and more individual species being threatened by
extinction," said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director
of WWF's Global Species Programme.
"One by one, the building
blocks of entire ecosystems are disappearing.
It's like taking one brick after another from
a wall, and eventually it will crumble. It is
not an exaggeration to call today's analysis the
reflection of a global conservation crisis.”
The Red List is an effective
guide that shows the net effects that continual
habitat loss and degradation, over-exploitation,
pollutants, climate change and the introduction
of invasive plants and species into new areas,
are having on our planet.
Climate change represents one
of the most pervasive threats to our planet’s
biodiversity. A recently published study co-authored
by WWF suggests that a quarter of the world’s
species will be on their way to extinction by
2050 as a result of global warming.
“It isn’t just polar bears and
penguins that we must worry about anymore,” said
Jennifer Morgan, Director of WWF’s Global Climate
Change Programme.
“If the regions with the largest
variety of animals and plants are no longer habitable
due to global warming then we will destroy the
last sanctuaries of many species and at the same
time risk the future of millions of people.”
Human reliance on wildlife for
everyday needs cannot be overestimated. Healthy
ecosystems with healthy species populations are
critical to the livelihoods and very survival
of local and indigenous communities around the
world. However, overexploitation of species for
food, medicine, pets and other human uses, is
a direct driver of species loss. These threats,
in combination, are pushing the planet's resources
to the limit.
For example, of the 547 species
of shark, 20 per cent are now threatened with
extinction. The ever-worsening status of so many
species of sharks is symptomatic of the failure
of fisheries management to sustainably manage
these fisheries and to mitigate the impact of
bycatch – the incidental catch of species – when
sharks are not the direct target of a fishery.
WWF applauds IUCN for drawing
attention to this situation and calls on governments
and industry to take immediate action to address
this problem. These include the development and
adoption of methods to reduce the number of sharks
caught in shark fisheries and as bycatch; the
development of national plans of action for the
conservation and management of sharks; and improvements
to fisheries data collection, especially relating
to Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing,
so that such worrying trends can be identified
and addressed earlier.
WWF works on threats to biodiversity
through its programmes across the globe, and across
a wide range of issues concentrating on the root
causes of biodiversity loss. These include working
with people, local communities, governments, the
private sector and academics to help deliver conservation
outcomes for biodiversity. It is crucial that
governments, donors and our own communities mobilize
now to address this crisis.
WWF believes the IUCN Red list
is an important science-based conservation tool
that should be used across the globe by communities,
governments and international fora to drive funding
and decision making. Reversal of the negative
trend is possible when political motivation is
high and when local communities see the value
and benefit from conserving species. It is also
important to remember that many of the world's
threatened species are in the same places as some
of the world's poorest people. In many cases,
the root causes of species loss in these areas
are either the same as, or closely related to,
the causes of poverty.
The Red List is developed by
a voluntary network of Species Specialist groups.
WWF works in close cooperation with IUCN across
the globe, through field interventions and by
providing financial and technical support to the
various Species Specialist groups of the IUCN
Species Survival Commission.
