Red List: 30% of species are threatened

Ground Report | New Delhi: 30% of species are threatened; The world is experiencing a period of extinction not seen for more than 60 million years when a huge asteroid wiped out 75% of the planet's species. To address and raise awareness about the problem, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world's largest global environmental organization, created the so-called " Red List of Threatened Species ", which updates now the number of species threatened by extinction.

According to the IUCN, the Red List now includes documentation on 142,577 species out of the more than two million described species and, for the first time, announces that more than 40,000 are threatened with some kind of threat.

Thus, it explains that with the update 897 are declared extinct and 79 extinct in nature. Meanwhile, 8,722 are included in the category of "critical danger", another 15,403 are classified as "in danger" and 15,959 are now "vulnerable".

ALSO READ: Climate change threatens one of the Bengal tiger’s last refuges

From this decline, the IUCN highlights the situation of dragonflies and damselflies, of which it states that 16% of the 6,016 species they comprise are in danger of extinction due to "the increasing deterioration of their shielded breeding sites for freshwater ”.

“ Dragonflies are very sensitive indicators of the state of freshwater ecosystems, and this first global assessment finally reveals the extent of their decline. It also provides an essential baseline that we can use to measure the impact of conservation efforts, ” says Viola Clausnitzer, Co-Chair of the SSC-IUCN Dragonfly Specialist Group.

In South and Southeast Asia, more than a quarter of all dragonfly and damselfly species are threatened primarily due to the clearing of wetlands and rainforests to make room for crops such as palm oil. In Central and South America, the main cause of the decline of these invertebrates is the clearing of forests for residential and commercial development.

For their part, pesticides, other pollutants, and climate change are growing threats to species in all regions of the world and the greatest threats to dragonflies in North America and Europe.

ALSO READ: Babri Masjid should be reconstructed: JNU Students Union Vice President

"To conserve these beautiful insects, it is critical that governments, agriculture, and industry take into account the protection of wetland ecosystems in development projects, for example by protecting key habitats and dedicating space to urban wetlands," he says. (30% of species are threatened)

In addition to those, it also refers to the Pyrenean desman ( Galemys pyrenaicus), a small semi-aquatic mammal that lives in Andorra, Spain, France, and Portugal and has gone from the “vulnerable” situation to join the ranks of the category “in danger".

This species has been half its population throughout its range since 2011, in part, according to the IUCN, due to human impacts on its habitat, such as altering the course of rivers, reducing the water level by the construction of hydroelectric plants, dams, and reservoirs, as well as the extraction of water for agricultural purposes.

You can connect with Ground Report on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Whatsapp. For suggestions and writeups mail us at [email protected]