Almost a third of endangered animal species – on the verge of extinction / Article

UN: Almost a third of endangered animal species are on the verge of extinctionUģis Lībietis00:00 / 03:00

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This year’s extreme heat, as well as heavy rains and floods in various regions of the world, continue to lead to an active debate on rapid climate change. The message of the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published a few months ago, was very clear and harsh: climate change is a frightening reality and global action must be swift and decisive.

These days, a conference organized by the UN International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources began in Marseille, France’s second largest city. Its aim is to bring together non-governmental organizations, scientists, business people, government representatives and representatives of indigenous peoples from around the world at the negotiating table during the week.

They are more than 1,400 different organizations that, every four years, identify the most pressing issues in the field of nature conservation, as well as decide how to tackle these challenges.

Already on the second day of the conference, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has issued the latest report on its list of endangered species. The so-called red list includes more than 138,000 species, and recent figures show that almost a third of them are on the verge of extinction.

The authors of the report point out that, for example, 37% of the 1,200 shark species are now endangered. And that’s about a third more than seven years ago. Among the endangered animals are now the world’s largest lizards – Komodo dragons.

According to the authors of the list of endangered species, the situation has been exacerbated over decades by the loss of habitats, over-exploitation of natural resources, over-active fishing and illegal trade in animals. The situation is now being exacerbated by rapid climate change, as the already mentioned Komodo dragons in the Indonesian islands are increasingly threatened by rising water levels.

At the same time, experts have pointed out that there are also success stories, because by successfully working on the conservation and return of certain species to the wild, some previously almost extinct species have actually been revived.

This also means that environmentalists face very active lobbying pressure.

The Marseilles conference will continue for a week and will address issues such as the protection of marine mammals, the conservation of Europe’s ancient forests and the impact of mining on biodiversity.

At the end of the conference, it is planned to adopt recommendations for legislators, who will then have the final say in political decision-making. NGOs are already pointing out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, when countries need to focus on economic recovery, too little attention is being paid to nature conservation. However, these recommendations are expected to be very important at the UN Conference on Biodiversity in China in October and at the UN Climate Conference or COP26 in Glasgow later in November.

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