Red List reveals conservation successes, but extinctions continue apace
Source: The Guardian
Red List reveals conservation successes, but extinctions continue apace
Habitat destruction and human development causing decline of
thousands of species, IUCN conservation thinktank warns
Damian Carrington
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 November 2013
The blue-tongued forest giraffe, the national symbol of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is on the brink of extinction, according to the latest update to the Red List of threatened species. The stripy-legged creature, which appears on Congolese banknotes and is actually a species of okapi, has become another victim of the DRC's long-running war. But surveys reveal that conservation efforts have had a positive effect on ocean-roaming leatherback turtles and albatrosses, while a Californian fox has returned from the edge.
"This Red List update shows some fantastic conservation successes, from which we must learn," said Jane Smart, a director at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles the list.
"However, the overall message remains bleak. With each update, whilst we see some species improving in status, there is a significantly larger number of species appearing in the threatened categories. The world must urgently scale up efforts to avert this devastating trend," she added.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/nov/26/iucn-red-list-endangered-species-extinction
