Report Details Extinction Crisis And Lists Methods to Slow Biodiversity Loss

A fifth of all vertebrates on Earth and as many as a third of all sharks and rays face the threat of extinction, according to a comprehensive study of 26,000 species. The study, released at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, said that continuing habitat destruction, over-exploitation, invasive species, and climate change are all combining to move 52 species a year closer to extinction. Compiled by 174 researchers in 38 countries and published online in the journal Science, the report said that species declines have been especially severe in Southeast Asia, Central America, the tropical Andes, and Australia. Forty-one species of amphibians are now threatened with extinction, the report said. But the study’s authors also noted that without recent conservation efforts, species losses would be 20 percent higher. The group called for the expansion of protected areas, which now cover 14 percent of all land on Earth and less than one percent of the ocean. “We know what we need to do,” said Andrew Rosenberg, senior vice president of Conservation International and a co-author of the study. “We need to focus on protected areas.”