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Human Activity Pushing More Than 1 in 5 Migratory Species Toward Extinction: UN

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Original article by JULIA CONLEY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A humpback whale is seen in the ocean. (Photo: Thomas Kelley/Unsplash)

“The global community has an opportunity to translate this latest science of the pressures facing migratory species into concrete conservation action,” said one U.N. official.

As world governments gathered in Uzbekistan Monday for the United Nations conference on migratory species, they centered the theme “Nature Knows No Borders”—an idea that a new landmark report said must take hold across the globe to push policymakers in all countries and regions to protect the billions of animals that travel each year to reproduce and find food.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) marked the opening of the 14th Conference of the Parties (CMS COP14) to the United Nations biodiversity treaty by releasing the first-ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report, showing that nearly half of migrating species are declining in population.

The crisis is especially dire for more than 1 in 5 species that are threatened with extinction, and 70 species listed under the CMS which have become more endangered, including the steppe eagle, the Egyptian vulture, and the wild camel.

The populations of nearly all species of fish listed in the U.N. treaty, including sharks and rays, have declined by 90% since the 1970s.

The two biggest drivers of endangerment and threatened extinction are overexploitation—including incidental and intentional capture—and habitat loss, and both are directly caused by human activity.

Seven in 10 CMS-listed species are threatened by overexploitation, while 3 in 4 of the species are at greater risk of dying out due to habitat loss, as humans expand energy, transportation, and agricultural infrastructure across the globe.

The climate crisis and planetary heating, pollution, and the spread of invasive species—thousands of which are introduced by humans—are also major threats to migratory species, the report says.

“Unsustainable human activities are jeopardizing the future of migratory species—creatures who not only act as indicators of environmental change but play an integral role in maintaining the function and resilience of our planet’s complex ecosystems,” said Inger Andersen, undersecretary-general of the U.N. and executive director of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP). “The global community has an opportunity to translate this latest science of the pressures facing migratory species into concrete conservation action. Given the precarious situation of many of these animals, we cannot afford to delay.”

Migratory species “reinforce” the fact that nature does not observe borders put in place by humans, Andersen added in a video posted on social media, and humans must work across borders to ensure these species are protected.

According to the report, nearly 10,000 of the world’s key biodiversity areas are crucial for the survival of migratory species, but more than half are not designated as areas that must be conserved—and 58% are under threat due to human activities.

Mapping and taking adequate steps to protect “the vital locations that serve as breeding, feeding, and stopover sites for migratory species” is a key priority, said the CMS in a statement.

“Migratory species rely on a variety of specific habitats at different times in their lifecycles,” said Amy Fraenkel, CMS executive secretary. “When species cross national borders, their survival depends on the efforts of all countries in which they are found. This landmark report will help underpin much-needed policy actions to ensure that migratory species continue to thrive around the world.”

In addition to increasing understanding of migration paths and minimizing human infrastructure in the pathways, the report recommended that policymakers “strengthen and expand efforts to tackle illegal and unsustainable taking of migratory species”; scale up efforts to tackle climate change and light, noise, chemical, and plastic pollution; and consider expanding CMS listings to include more at-risk migratory species in need of international attention.

“There are many things that are needed to be done on addressing the drivers of environmental change, such as agriculture for habitat destruction, the sprawl of cities, we have to look at rail, road, and fences,” said Fraenkel. “One of the most important things for migratory species is something we call ecosystem integrity: they need particular sites to breed, feed, and travel. If those sites cannot be accessed or don’t exist any more, then it’s obviously going to be detrimental.”

The report focused on 1,189 migratory species identified by the U.N. as needing protection, but found that another 399 migratory species are either threatened or near threatened with extinction.

“People might not realize that whales, lions, gorillas, giraffes, and many birds are migratory species,” Fraenkel said.

At the opening ceremony of CMS COP14, Andersen called on policymakers to live up to the conference’s theme “by ensuring free passage of migratory species and by ensuring that, through multilateralism, we reach a hand across every border to ensure long-term sustainability, for people and for planet.”

Reversing population decline is possible, the report emphasized, pointing to coordinated local action in Cyprus that reduced illegal bird netting by 91% and “hugely successful” conservation and restoration work in Kazakhstan, “which has brought the saiga antelope back from the brink of extinction.”

“I ask parties to consider how to work in harmony with other processes for mutually assured success,” said Andersen, “all in the interests of sustainable economies and societies.”

Original article by JULIA CONLEY republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Image of a Great White Shark
Image of a Great White Shark
Image of a Great White Shark
Image of a Great White Shark, think it might be the same wun actually.
Continue ReadingHuman Activity Pushing More Than 1 in 5 Migratory Species Toward Extinction: UN

Within Decade, Planet’s Natural World Facing Largest Mass Extinction Event Since Dinosaurs

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Latest analysis by World Wildlife Fund warns humanity—possible “victim of it own lifestyle”—might ultimately be added to list of threatened species.

JULIA CONLEY December 30, 2021

In summer, some polar bears do not make the transition from their winter residence on the Svalbard islands to the dense drift ice and pack ice of the high arctic where they would find a plethora of prey. This is due to global climate change which causes the ice around the islands to melt much earlier than previously. The bears need to adapt from their proper food to a diet of detritus, small animals, bird eggs and carcasses of marine animals. Very often they suffer starvation and are doomed to die. The number of these starving animals is sadly increasing.AWeith This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Endangered_arctic_-_starving_polar_bear.jpg

Increasingly dire ecological damage and severe impacts of the climate crisis are pushing the natural world towards a mass extinction event unparalleled since the age of the dinosaurs, conservationists in Germany warned this week, with humanity possibly facing self-annihilation if behaviors do not change.

Releasing its annual “Winners and Losers” list on Wednesday, the World Wildlife Fund’s German branch said 40,000 of the 142,500 species listed on the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are “threatened with extinction.”

“If the earth is sick, so will the people [be], because we depend on vital ecosystems and biodiversity for our own safe and healthy life.”

The Red List is now longer than it has ever been since the IUCN began cataloging threatened species in 1964.

More than 40% of amphibians, 27% of shark and ray species, a third of reef building corals, and more than a quarter of all mammals on the Red List are threatened with extinction.

At the current rate of species loss, “around one million species could go extinct within the next decade—which would be the largest mass extinction event since the end of the dinosaur age,” WWF Germany said in a statement.

With planet-heating atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions reaching a record high this year—contributing to drought, habitat loss, extreme weather, and health problems in humans as well as other species—the organization noted that humans should view the extinction crisis as one that could affect them directly.

“Species conservation is no longer just about defeating an environmental problem, but is rather about the question of whether or not humanity will eventually end up on the Red List in an endangered category—and thereby become a victim of its own lifestyle,” WWF Germany director Eberhard Brandes said.

“If the earth is sick, so will the people [be],” he added, “because we depend on vital ecosystems and biodiversity for our own safe and healthy life.”

The “losers” on the WWF’s list include the polar bear, which is already suffering from the erosion of its Arctic habitat as the northern region becomes warmer. The Arctic Ocean could be completely free of ice by 2035 at the current rate of loss, making it increasingly difficult for the bears to find food.

Sharks and rays also made the list, the result of overfishing, habitat loss, and the climate crisis. A third of all sharks and rays in the oceans were classified as threatened in 2021, the WWF said.

African forest elephants have been considered “critically endangered” for the first time this year, as their population in Central and West Africa has plummeted by 86% in the past three decades.

The inclusion of 40,000 species on the IUCN’s list of threatened species represents a major acceleration of biodiversity loss. In 2010, 17,300 species were considered to be under threat, according to The Guardian.

The WWF’s list of “winners” this year includes bearded vultures, which have benefited from a resettlement program in the last 30 years that’s resulted in more than 300 of the birds now living in the Alpine region; the Iberian lynx, whose population has increased more than tenfold in the past 18 years; and Siamese crocodiles in Cambodia. Eight young crocodiles were found by researchers this year, marking the first time in more than a decade that the species has reproduced in nature.

“The winners of the list show that there are still opportunities for species protection,” said Brandes. “If we implement effective nature conservation measures, we can protect plants, animals and, ultimately, the climate.”

From https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/12/30/within-decade-planets-natural-world-facing-largest-mass-extinction-event-dinosaurs licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Continue ReadingWithin Decade, Planet’s Natural World Facing Largest Mass Extinction Event Since Dinosaurs