tagged w/ IUCN
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Red-crested Tree Rat Rediscovered in Sierra Nevadas After 113 Years
Red-Crested Tree Rat
A unique guinea-pig sized rodent, not seen since 1898, has been rediscovered. The Red-crested Tree Rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis) showed up at the front door of the ProAves' El Dorado Nature Reserve Eco-lodge in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. NPR says the rodent was presumed to be extinct.
The animal was rediscovered by Lizzie Noble and Simon McKeown - two volunteers with ProAves monitoring endangered amphibians. The tree rat stayed for about two hours and posed for pictures before heading back into the forest.
Lizzie Noble says, "He just shuffled up the handrail near where we were sitting and seemed totally unperturbed by all the excitement he was causing. We are absolutely delighted to have rediscovered such a wonderful creature after just a month of volunteering with ProAves. Clearly the El Dorado Reserve has many more exciting discoveries waiting."
ProAves says the The Red-crested Tree Rat will now likely be designated as Critically Endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species criteria.
Red-Crested Tree Rat
Photos: Lizzie Noble / proaves.orgRed-crested Tree Rat Rediscovered in Sierra Nevadas After 113 Years
Red-Crested... more
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TRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made in 2002 through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to reduce the global rate of biodiversity loss by 2010, and have instead overseen alarming biodiversity declines, according to a paper just published in the journal Science.
In the first assessment of progress made towards achieving the 2010 target, scientists from a wide range of institutions examined data from over 30 indicators of biodiversity – such as changes in species’ populations and risk of extinction, habitat extent and community composition – but found no evidence for a significant reduction in the rate of decline.
“Our analysis shows that governments have failed to deliver on the commitments they made in 2002: biodiversity is still being lost as fast as ever, and we have made little headway in reducing the pressures on species, habitats and ecosystems”, said Dr Stuart Butchart, of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre and BirdLife International, and the paper’s lead author.
“2010 will not be the year that biodiversity loss was halted, but it needs to be the year in which we start taking the issue seriously and substantially increase our efforts to take care of what is left of our planet.”
The indicators included in the study were developed and synthesized through the 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership – a collaboration of over 40 international organizations and agencies developing global biodiversity indicators and the leading source of information on trends in global biodiversity.
They included indicators developed by TRAFFIC and IUCN to monitor trends in the status of species used for food and medicine. These showed that birds and mammals used for these purposes are generally more threatened than those that are not. This may be due to over-exploitation or for other reasons such as habitat loss, or a combination of factors.
“Regardless of the causes, the diminishing availability of wildlife resources threatens the health and well-being of the people who depend on them directly for food and medicine and on their wild harvest as a source of income,” said Thomasina Oldfield, Research and Analysis Programme Leader for TRAFFIC and a co-author of the Science paper.
There needs to be urgent action to tackle the world’s biodiversity crisis, coupled with sustained investment in coherent monitoring and use of indicators to track and improve the effectiveness of any responses.
The results from the latest study will feed into Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, the flagship publication of the CBD, to be released in Nairobi on May 10th, when government representatives from around the world will meet to discuss the 2010 target and how to address the biodiversity crisis.
“Although nations have put in place some significant policies to slow biodiversity declines, these have been woefully inadequate, and the gap between the pressures on biodiversity and the responses is getting ever wider,” said Butchart
http://www.traffic.org/home/2010/4/30/world-governments-fail-to-deliver-on-2010-biodiversity-targe.htmlTRAFFIC - Wildlife Trade News - World leaders have failed to deliver commitments made... more
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Launched by the United Nations, the International Year of Biodiversity comes with a warning that the continuing loss of species around the world is disturbing the well-being of humankind, according to BBC News.
A pledge made by government leaders eight years ago to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by the year 2010 will not be met. One of the main reasons for the failure lies on expansion of cities, farming and the infrastructure of society.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), pushed for government leaders to revitalize their efforts to decrease the loss of biodiversity, even though the 2010 goal will not be reached. The dire importance of the current situation demands that the global community as a whole not only reverse the rate of loss, “but that we stop the loss altogether and begin restoring the ecological infrastructure that has been damaged and degraded over the previous century or so.”
The UN expressed that as natural environments such as forests and wetlands perish, humanity loses the benefits they provide for free. Those benefits include purification of our air and water, protection from weather, and the materials they provide for shelter.
The pledge to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss was started in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit when UN leaders agreed on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). However, it was another ten years until the pledge reached global awareness and governments agreed to achieve a “significant reduction” in the rate of biodiversity loss by the year 2010.
Although there has been some regional success according to conservation organizations, the global target is not going to be met. According to some figures, the actual loss of nature is accelerating rather than decelerating. Some biologists say that we are in the middle of the Earth’s sixth great extinction - the previous five stemming from natural events. This time, they say, the blame lies on humankind.
Jane Smart, director of the biodiversity conservation group for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), told BBC “The loss of this beautiful and complex natural diversity that underpins all life on the planet is a serious threat to humankind now and in the future.” There is no doubt that the world is facing an imminent “extinction crisis.”
Research is an important step in the fight against biodiversity loss. Forming scientific panels to collate and assess research is also key. According to an on-going UN-sponsored study into the economics of biodiversity, figures show that deforestation alone costs the global economy upwards of five trillion dollars each year.
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http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1807524/un_names_2010_the_international_year_of_biodiversity/Launched by the United Nations, the International Year of Biodiversity comes with a... more
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Some larger whale species have been recovering since the dark days before the whaling industry was regulated, but the majority of cetaceans—that is, the distinct order of marine mammals consisting of whales, dolphins and porpoises—are in decline, with some likely headed for extinction in the near term.
According to data collected by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which maintains a “Red List” of threatened or endangered species, two of the largest whale species, humpbacks and southern rights, have rebounded since 1982 when the International Whaling Commission (IWC) imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling. Based on IUCN’s 2008 survey of cetaceans, both species, while still threatened, were upgraded from “Vulnerable” to “Least Concern” status on the Red List. “Humpbacks and southern right whales are making a comeback in much of their range mainly because they have been protected from commercial hunting,” says Randall Reeves, IUCN’s assessment leader. “This is a great conservation success and clearly shows what needs to be done to ensure these ocean giants survive.”
But other cetaceans haven’t fared so well. Almost a third of the world’s 80-plus cetacean species had their Red List status changed based on the IUCN’s 2008 assessment, with the vast majority now considered at greater risk than before. Overall, nearly a quarter of cetacean species are considered threatened, and of those, more than 10 percent (nine species) are listed as Endangered or Critically Endangered, the highest categories of threat. Reeves says that the real situation could be much worse, as researchers could not obtain enough data on more than half of the world's cetacean species to properly classify their status.
While commercial whaling is what first put cetaceans at risk—the IWC’s 1982 moratorium greatly reduced stress on many species—other threats loom larger than ever: Whales the world over withstand ship strikes, habitat deterioration and declining prey. And the smaller cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises and small whales) often drown in huge fishing nets that trawl the ocean scooping up everything in their path.Some larger whale species have been recovering since the dark days before the whaling... more
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King of Pop Michael Jackson Pronounced Dead at age 50 at UCLA Medical Center after suffering from cardiac arrest.King of Pop Michael Jackson Pronounced Dead at age 50 at UCLA Medical Center after... more
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According to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) warns that many types of sharks may disappear saying the cause is overfishing.According to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) warns that many... more
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A Japanese non-governmental organization, the Save the Dugong Campaign Center,SDCC (sdcc.jp) joined the 4th World Conservation Congress held by UCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (iucn.org/).
During the congress, a recommendation to protect the Okinawa Dugong was adopted.
CGR4.MOT027 Promotion of Dugong during the UN 2010 International Year for Biodiversity
The Japanese and the US governments has been planning to construct a US Marine base at the coast of Okinawa, the last habitat of the Okinawa Dugong.
This video explains the situation in Okinawa, what SDCC has done to appeal this situation in the other part of Japan and during the congress and the meaning of this recommendation.A Japanese non-governmental organization, the Save the Dugong Campaign Center,SDCC... more
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'Souvenir' Campaigns
Shop Carefully! video produced by the TRAFFIC East Asia office in Taipei to encourage responsible buying of souvenir items
Several TRAFFIC campaigns have focused on the souvenir trade - and encourage tourists to be aware of what goods they are purchasing.
Wildlife awareness campaign, China:
In 2007, TRAFFIC, WWF, the conservation organization and Ogilvy, an advertising agency, launched an advertising campaign in mainland China aimed at changing consumer attitudes towards unsustainable wildlife trade.
The campaign, consisting of creative print, video and online advertisements in Chinese, is part of an awareness-raising project to inform urban consumers about the environmental harm that illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade causes, and by providing guidance on what actions they can take to help protect species.
The full online campaign (in Chinese) can be viewed at www.traffic-china.org
Awareness materials, Vietnam:
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) produced by the WWF and TRAFFIC Greater Mekong Programmes pertaining to wildlife consumption - in particular of of civets, pangolins, and king cobras.
follow the link to other countries listed on this page...'Souvenir' Campaigns
Shop Carefully! video produced by the TRAFFIC East... more
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35% of the world's birds, 52% of amphibians and 71% of warm-water reef-building corals are likely to be particularly susceptible to climate change, the first results of an International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) study have revealed.35% of the world's birds, 52% of amphibians and 71% of warm-water reef-building... more
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GREEN-MINDED folk of many shades came to Spain this month, to talk about the need to save from human recklessness as much as possible of nature’s bounty of genes, habitats and species. They brought bad tidings. Common birds are in decline across the world. Almost one in four species of mammals is in danger of extinction. If current trends continue until 2050, fisheries will be exhausted. As it is, deforestation costs the world more each year than the current financial crisis has cost in total, one economist argued.
In theory, virtually all the world’s governments are committed to limiting the damage. In 1992, at the Earth summit in Rio de Janeiro, they signed a treaty called the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In 2002, under its auspices, they vowed to bring about “a significant reduction” in the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010. The pledge became one of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations’ eight fondest ambitions for the world.
Yet this target now looks unattainable, said most participants at the World Conservation Congress, which concluded in Barcelona on October 14th. The meeting was awash with gloomy forecasts. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the network of conservation groups that organised the congress, released the latest version of its “red list” of threatened species. It describes the health of all species whose populations have been assessed—almost 45,000 this time round. At first glance, the proportion of species at risk seemed to have fallen slightly. But that, the compilers note, simply reflects the expansion of its coverage beyond the creatures seen as most in danger. Of 223 species whose status has changed since last year, 82% were closer to extinction.
Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is studying global warming for the UN, said 20-30% of species could die out if global average temperatures rise by more than 2°C or so. And even today’s rate of extinctions, one Barcelona delegate noted, is 1,000 times faster than the norm before man made a mess.
What does the loss of other species cost humans? Many congress-goers talked about valuing “ecosystem services”: natural processes that benefit people, such as the pollination of crops, the purification of water in wetlands and the sequestration of carbon in soil and forests. A study released this year said the world was losing €50 billion ($68 billion) in ecosystem services each year because of damage to nature.
Read More at the linkGREEN-MINDED folk of many shades came to Spain this month, to talk about the need to... more
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The latest global assessment of cetaceans shows that the marine mammals throughout the world's oceans have experienced mixed fortunes.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species reveals that some large species, like humpbacks, have seen numbers increase. However, it warns that smaller species, including river dolphins, have declined as a result of human actions. The IUCN added that it was unable to assess more than half of the world's cetaceans because of a lack of data. "It shows that if you protect these animals then they can recover," said Randall Reeves, chairman of Cetacean Specialist Group for the IUCN, the global conservation body.
"I'm encouraged by the fact that several of the large whale species that had been in trouble for a long time have shown steady increases over recent decades." The latest assessment has down-listed the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) from Vulnerable to Least Concern. The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) was another species that was deemed no longer at risk of extinction.
Both animals had recorded increased numbers across much of their range, primarily because they had been protected from commercial whaling, Dr Reeves explained. "Humpbacks have really shown an ability to recover strongly from extremely intensive hunting," he added.
(continued at link)The latest global assessment of cetaceans shows that the marine mammals throughout the... more
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Nine more species of shark are to be added to the endangered list as scientists warn that oceans are being emptied of the fish by overfishing and finning.
The scalloped hammerhead shark, which has declined by 99% over the past 30 years in some parts of the world, is particularly vulnerable and will be declared globally endangered on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) list. Nine more species of shark are to be added to the endangered list as scientists warn... more
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