Human activity is having a devastating effect on all forms of life with which they share the planet. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes a Red List of Threatened Species and the 2009 version makes for sober reading. It shows that “17,291 species out of the 47,677 assessed species are threatened with extinction.”
Mammalian Life Forms are Vanishing
Most people have probably never heard of Sturdee’s Pipistrelle, the Red-bellied Gracile Opossum, or Schomburgk’s deer. But these are all mammals that once walked the Earth and have become extinct over the last 70 years or so. They have joined the list of hundreds of animals that have vanished over the last two centuries.
Writing at ecoworldy.com (April 2, 2009), Bryan Nelson points out that “The current rate of extinction is 100 to 1,000 times higher than the average, or background rate, making our current period the 6th major mass extinction in the planet’s history.”
The IUCN says that “Of the world’s 5,490 mammals, 79 are Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, with 188 Critically Endangered, 449 Endangered, and 505 Vulnerable.”
A typical example of how these disappearances come about is a rodent called the Eastern Voalavo, that has just been placed on the endangered list. “This rodent, endemic to Madagascar, is confined to montane tropical forest and is under threat from slash-and-burn farming.”
Plants at Great Risk of Dying out
When large mammals such as the Caspian Tiger (extinct since the 1950s) or the Western Black Rhinoceros (2006) vanish from the planet, some notice is taken. But, plants are disappearing at a much faster pace than any other life forms and their extinction is hardly marked.
The IUCN notes that of the 12,151 plants on its Red List, 8,500 are threatened with extinction. Climate change is thought to be one of the reasons a plant called The Queen of the Andes is having trouble surviving. But, if a plant such as this, with a very limited habitat goes missing, does it really matter?
Actually, the loss of what appear to be a few weeds to some can be of vital importance to human life.
The Madagascar rosy periwinkle is a nondescript, low-growing plant that has small white flowers with pink centres and glossy green leaves. However, as Erin Streff reported in National Geographic News (March 14, 2001), “The rosy periwinkle is an ordinary plant with extraordinary capabilities. Vincristine and vinblastine, two drugs derived from the plant, are used to treat childhood leukemia and cases of Hodgkin’s disease respectively.”
Convention on Biological Diversity
Because of the inter-connected nature of the environment, when one species disappears others are affected. This is why The Convention on Biological Diversity entered into force on December 29, 1993. It has 3 main objectives:
- “To conserve biological diversity;
- “The use biological diversity in a sustainable fashion; and,
- “To share the benefits of biological diversity fairly and equitably.”
In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention, of which there are 191 countries, made a commitment to achieve a rather vaguely worded “significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss" globally by 2010.
Crisis in Biodiversity Loss
Jane Smart is director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. She says, “The latest analysis... shows that the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met.”
BBC News (November 3, 2009) quotes Professor Jonathan Baillie, director of conservation programs at the Zoological Society of London as saying, “In our lifetime, we have gone from having to worry about a relatively small number of highly threatened species to the collapse of entire ecosystems.”
“At what point will society truly respond to this growing crisis?”
Rupert Taylor - Rupert Taylor is the editor of a magazine that provides background to current events.
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