Aurora, a 20-year-old Beluga whale, swims with her newborn calf at the Vancouver Aquarium.
By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) - Endangered species from polar bears to giant salamanders, great white sharks to beluga whales and Namibian quiver trees to Cuban crocodiles will have their day on the Internet throughout 2010.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will issue throughout the year an extensive daily portrait of each of the 365 animals, birds and plants most under threat of disappearance.
"It is time for governments to get serious about saving species and making sure it is high on their agenda for next year, as we're really running out of time," said Jane Smart, a biodiversity expert at the Swiss-based IUCN.
"The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting," Smart said. A third of the some 1.8 million identified species were under growing threat.
Experts believe there could be as many as 6 to 12 million more species as yet unknown to science.
From January 1 2010, declared the U.N. Year of Biodiversity, IUCN will draw on latest research for its annual Red List of endangered wildlife to portray in detail the possibly doomed species of the day.
The material will be posted on the IUCN website (www.iucn.org).
"We will start with some better known species before moving to cover plants, fungi, invertebrates, and more, including less charismatic ones," the inter-governmental body said.
The polar bear, whose fate as the arctic ice-shelf melts has been widely recognized, will have star billing on January 1.
Before December's U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, IUCN said inaction would put the future of some of the world's best-known creatures at risk.
These also included the emperor penguin, the arctic fox, clownfish which were popularized by the hit film "Finding Nemo," Australia's koala bear and almost every species of salmon, both marine and freshwater.
END
IUCN news release
Threatened species – highlight one a day for 2010
Background: The latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ shows that a third of assessed species are threatened with extinction. From Polar Bears and Leatherback Turtles to the Chinese Giant Salamander and the Mountain Tapir, we’ve got the facts, figures, photos and habitat maps of 365 of the species under threat. These can be featured in newspapers, on websites and blogs, one per day for every day of 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity.
The Issue: The scientific evidence of a serious extinction crisis is mounting. “January sees the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity,” says Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “The latest analysis of the IUCN Red List shows the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met. It’s time for governments to get serious about saving species and make sure it’s high on their agendas for next year, as we’re rapidly running out of time.”
For more information:
Nicki Chadwick, IUCN Media Relations Officer, t, +41 22 999 0229, e nicki.chadwick@iucn.org
Kathryn Pintus, IUCN Species Programme, t, +41 22 999 0154, e Kathryn.pintus@iucn.org
Rachel Roberts, IUCN Species Survival Commission, e, ssccharioffice@iucn.org
About IUCN IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
About The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ The IUCN Red List is the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of plant and animal species. It is based on an objective system for assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be taken.
Nicki Chadwick
Media Relations Officer
Global Communications
IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
28 rue Mauverney, CH-1196 Gland (Switzerland)
tel. +41 22 999 0229; fax +41 22 999 0020; www.iucn.org
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