http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2000325.stm
Tuesday, 21 May, 2002,
13:48 GMT 14:48 UK
Quarter of mammals 'face extinction'
By Corinne Podger
BBC science correspondent
CAPTION:
Siberian tigers may vanish within three decades
Almost a quarter of
the world's mammals face extinction within
30 years, according to a United Nations report on the state of
the global environment.
The destruction of
habitats and the introduction of alien species
from one part of the world to another are blamed for the threatened
loss to biodiversity.
The United Nations
Environment Programme (Unep) report is officially
published on Wednesday. It identifies more than 11,000 endangered
animal and plant species - including more than 1,000 mammals,
nearly a quarter of the world's total.
One in eight bird species
is also in danger of extinction,
and more than 5,000 different plants.
Human
encroachment
The species likely
to vanish within three decades include
well-publicised cases such as the black rhinoceros and the
Siberian tiger, and less well-known animals such as the
Philippine eagle and the Asian Amur leopard.
The UN report is a
review of the past 30 years in terms
of environmental damage.
Based on that assessment,
the UN says that all the factors
which have led to the extinction of species in recent decades
continue to operate with "ever-increasing intensity".
The encroachment of
human settlement into wilderness regions,
rainforest and wetlands destruction, and the impact of industry,
have had a dramatic impact on the survival of threatened animals
and plants.
The report says many
problems could be rectified if governments
implement the treaties and conventions passed since the Rio Earth
Summit in 1992.
These include the Kyoto
Protocol on climate change and the
Convention on Biodiversity.
