IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: extreme risk of extinction

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The latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species highlights a large number of threats that affect, above all, marine species. The List includes 150,388 species, of which 42,108 are in danger of extinction. It is notable how populations of dugongs (Dugong dugon), large herbivorous marine mammals, and 44% of all abalone shellfish species (Haliotis) enter the IUCN Red List as threatened with extinction; Additionally, the pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) has deteriorated to Critically Endangered due to accumulated pressures. “The IUCN Red List update reveals a perfect storm of unsustainable human activity decimating marine life around the world.

As the world waits for the ongoing UN biodiversity Ecuador Email List conference to set the course for nature's recovery, we simply cannot afford to fail,” said the IUCN Director General. “We urgently need to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises, with profound changes to our economic systems, or we risk losing the crucial benefits that the oceans provide us.” Abalone shellfish (Haliotis) “Abalones reflect humanity's disastrous stewardship of our oceans in microcosm: overfishing, pollution, disease, habitat loss, algal blooms, warming and acidification, to name just a few threats.



They really are the canary in the coal mine,” said Dr Howard Peters, member of the IUCN SSC Mollusk Specialist Group and research associate at the University of York, UK, who led the abalone assessment. Dugongs (Dugong dugon) “Strengthening community-led fisheries governance and expanding job opportunities beyond fishing are key in areas where marine ecosystems are critical to food security and people's livelihoods,” said Evan Trotzuk, who led the East African Red List assessment. pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) “The pillar coral is just one of 26 corals now listed as Critically Endangered in the Atlantic Ocean, where nearly half of all corals are now at elevated risk of extinction due to climate change and other impacts,” said Dr. Beth Polidoro, associate professor at Arizona State University and IUCN SSC Coral Specialist Group Red List Coordinator.