IUCN “Red List”: nearly 28% of the species studied are threatened
A manta ray in 2014 in Palau in the Pacific Ocean.
37% of shark and ray species are threatened in 2021 while in 2014, it was only 24% of them.
© Flickr CC BY 2.0 amanderson2
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Almost 28% of the species studied in the IUCN “red list” are threatened.
The update of this real barometer of living things was published this Saturday, September 4 in Marseille on the occasion of the organization's world congress.
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In total, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (
IUCN
) has studied 138,374 species.
38,543 of them (27.9%) are classified in the various “
threatened
”
categories
.
While specialists warn of an ongoing collapse of biodiversity, some even evoke a "
sixth mass extinction
".
Endangered Komodo dragons, rays and sharks
Among the emblematic species, the Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, have seen their status go from “
vulnerable
”, the lowest of the threatened categories, to “
endangered
”.
The IUCN warns in particular that due to climate change, "
the rise in temperature and therefore sea level should reduce their habitat by at least 30% in the next 45 years
".
And individuals living outside the natural park that covers part of the islands in Indonesia where they are present, also see their habitat threatened by human activity.
A global reassessment of the situation of sharks and rays, which are part of the same family, showed that 37% are now in the threatened categories, against 24% in 2014. All the species thus classified face overfishing, 31% degradation or loss of habitat and 10% to consequences of climate change, according to IUCN.
Recovering tuna species, but still fragile
On the other hand, IUCN is pleased to see “
four species of commercially fished tuna recovering thanks to the implementation of regional quotas
” developed by specific organizations.
Out of the seven most fished species, these four have thus seen their ranking down in the list.
But the organization warns "
that despite an overall improvement, many regional tuna stocks remain depleted
."
►Also listen: C'est pas du vent - Climate and biodiversity: same fight
(With AFP)
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