Given the fact that this figure comprises only 2.7% of 1.8 million described species, the abovementioned number is clearly a gross underestimate. Still, it does give the impression of the scale of the disaster that is happening to all forms of life on our planet.

Being the world’s oldest and largest environmental network, IUCN has more than 1,000 member organizations in 140 countries – both governmental and non-governmental – that are involved in its work. And the present report was released only months before the deadline governments set themselves in 2002 to evaluate how successful they were in achieving the 2010 target to reduce the biodiversity loss.

Cost of Neglect

The organization concludes that the 2010 target will not be met.

“When governments take action to reduce biodiversity loss there are some conservation successes, but we are still a long way from reversing the trend,” says Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Head of IUCN’s Species Programme and senior editor of the report.

“It’s time to recognize that nature is the largest company on Earth working for the benefit of 100% of human-kind – and it’s doing it for free. Governments should put as much effort, if not more, into saving nature as they do into saving economic and financial sectors,” the IUCN.org website quotes Vié as saying.

According to the IUCN report, 10% of the world’s vertebrate fauna (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) are threatened with extinction, including nearly one-third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and almost one quarter of all mammals.

For some plant groups, the situation is even more serious. For instance, 28% of the conifer species and 52% of cycads are threatened, with habitat destruction, agriculture, logging and development being the main threats worldwide.

Mammals

A complete reassessment of the world’s mammals showed that nearly one quarter, or 22% of the world’s mammal species are globally threatened or extinct, representing 1,219 species out of 5,488 described.

Of those 1,219 species, 76 are considered to be extinct, two are extinct in the wild, and 29 are flagged as “possibly extinct.” This makes a total of 107 mammal extinctions since the year 1500.

Philippine tarsier (RT Photo / Vitaliy Matveev). Click to enlarge

The greatest number of threatened mammal species is reported in Indonesia – 184. This country is followed by Mexico, with 100 mammals.

Half of the top 20 countries for numbers of threatened species are in Asia. These are India, with 96 species, China – 74 and Malaysia – 70.

Yet it is the island states, where the proportion of threatened mammals is the highest, with the top three being Mauritius (64%), Reunion (43%) and the Seychelles (39%) – the islands and island groups in the Indian Ocean.

Habitat loss is recognized as the greatest global threat affecting over 2,000 mammal species. Unsustainable hunting is the second greatest threat. It affects almost 1,000 mammal species, especially those in Asia, where rapid deforestation is another serious threat.

Birds

Dalmatian pelican

More than one in seven bird species, or 14%, are reported to be globally threatened or extinct. At least 134 species have become extinct since the year 1500, and four are extinct in the wild. Fifteen more species are tagged as “possibly extinct.”

According to the report, 97% of the world’s countries hold at least one globally threatened bird species, with their highest numbers occurring in Brazil – 122 threatened species – and Indonesia – 115.

Oceanic island nations hold the highest proportions of threatened and extinct species. This is where 88% of all known bird extinctions have occurred since the year 1500.

Agriculture, logging and invasive species appear to be the most severe threats driving bird species towards extinction.

Amphibians

Amphibians as a whole are considered the world’s most endangered group of vertebrates. Nearly one-third, or 32% of their species are threatened or extinct, while 25% more have insufficient data to determine their status.

As many as 159 amphibian species may already be extinct, at least 38 are known to be extinct, and one is extinct in the wild, the analysis reports. At least another 120 have not been found in recent years and hence were tagged as “possibly extinct.”

The Chinese giant salamander can be up to 1.8 metres long (Photo from International Cooperation Network for Giant Salamander Conservation)

Moreover, at least 42% of all species are declining in population, which indicates that the number of threatened species will probably rise in the future. On the contrary, less than 1% of amphibian species show population increases.

The largest numbers of threatened amphibians occur in Latin America: 214 in Colombia, 211 in Mexico, and 171 in Ecuador. The highest proportion of threatened or extinct species is reported for island states in the Caribbean: over 80% in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica, and a staggering 92% in Haiti.

Although habitat loss poses the greatest threat to amphibians, the fungal disease chytridiomycosis is seriously affecting an increasing number of species and complicating conservation efforts.

Most disturbing, many species are declining for unknown reasons, which complicates conservation initiatives too.

Freshwater species

Freshwater habitats, despite their limited distribution, are home to 126,000 species, or 7% of the estimated 1.8 million described species, as stated in the report. Rivers, lakes, ponds and various wetlands enable the storage of clean water for human use. They provide important goods and services – from food and building materials to transportation.

With all that, freshwater habitats appear to be especially vulnerable: the high degree of connectivity in freshwater systems allows pollution or invasive species to spread rapidly, affecting native species that live in them. For instance, 38% of all freshwater fish in Europe and 28% in Eastern Africa are threatened.

Marine species

In the recent years, a broad range of marine species have undergone a potentially irreversible loss.

Hammerhead shark

Over-fishing, climate change, invasive species, coastal development and pollution are believed to be the main causes of that.

At least 17% of the 1,045 shark and ray species, over 12% of groupers and six of the seven marine turtle species are threatened with extinction. Most noticeably, 27% of the 845 species in or near reef building corals are threatened, too.

It also appears that marine birds are much more threatened than in-land birds. Compared with almost 12% of terrestrial birds, more than 27% of marine species are balancing on the brink of extinction.

Global warming

It further appears from the report that climate change is not currently the main threat to wildlife. However, this may soon change as well.

The analysis based on the biological characteristics of 17,000 species of birds, amphibians and reef building corals found that a significant proportion of species that are currently not threatened with extinction still possess traits that make them susceptible to climate change. Among them are 30% of non-threatened bird species, 51% of non-threatened corals and 41% of non-threatened amphibians.

“Worse than believed”

On the overall scale, the Red List data clearly show that birds, mammals, amphibians and corals – all show a continuing deterioration, with a particularly rapid decline for corals.

“[The report] tells us that the extinction crisis is as bad, or even worse, than we believed… In the run-up to 2010, the global community should use this report wisely to address the situation,” Craig Hilton Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit and co-editor, was quoted in the IUCN press release.

Vitaliy Matveev, RT