Study Predicts Giant Wave of Extinctions
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Sept. 11) - Hundreds of species face possible extinction in the next two decades if more land is not set aside to protect them, a study released Thursday said.
The Conservation International study of more than 11,000 species throughout the world has created a global picture of how they are protected.
It was released during the World Parks Congress in the coastal city of Durban where 2,500 international conservationists have gathered.
An urgent addition of 2.6 percent of the world's land area to an existing protection system could help stop the imminent extinction of at least two-thirds of unprotected species, the report said.
Still, many other areas also need protection to safeguard the world's species, the report said. At least 223 bird, 140 mammal and 346 amphibian species are currently completely unprotected.
``We need to do something right away. If it's not done, we will probably see the disappearance of many of these populations in the next 10 or 20 years,'' said Gustavo Fonseca, Conservation International's Executive Vice President for Programs and Science.
``This will represent extinction to the scale that we have not seen before as a human species,'' he said.
Restrictions on protected land include rules against hunting and development.
The planned allocation of increased land for protection would focus on areas where biodiversity threats are the greatest, such as the tropical areas, rain forests and islands. These make up 80 percent of the areas identified as ``urgent priorities'' for the creation of new protected areas.
09/11/03 13:36 EDT
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. |
