shahmaran wrote:Well, you know how the saying goes, a countries civilization is measured by how they treat their minorities and their animals
I am surprised you are allowed to call yourself European, kind of defeats its meaning, don't you think?
So far, it's the UK which has had amongst the greatest number of extinctions in the developed world. And, as for "minority" extinctions; the prize goes to Turkey! Worldwide, in Turkey and now in Cyprus. No contest!
For those who want to politicise, in a racist, specifically anti-Cypriot manner the sad decline, worldwide of many species; my message is for you to go back to school and complete (or at least initiate) your studies, because your bigotry is the only thing which should become extinct!
English wildlife facing extinction threat
BY MIKE SWAIN
England has some of the richest and most varied wildlife in the world but it is threatened by modern life and development.
Some have called the current gloibal wildlife declines the sixth great extinction and England is not escaping.
Almost five hundred species have been lost from England's landscapes, the most comprehensive study of extinctions of our plant and animal life has found.
Most of the losses have happened in the last 200 years as city development, pollution and mechanised farming have changed the English countryside.
A quarter of our 55,000 species are either declining or under threat, the Lost Life report from Natural England estimates.
It's the first "stock- take" of England's rich and varied wildlife looking at lost and declining native species going back two thousand years.
It shows 492 species have gone, mostly in the last 200 years when their decline and loss has been recorded. These include: 24% of butterflies, 22% of amphibians, 15% of dolphins and whales, 14% of stoneworts, 12% of terrestial animals and 12% of stoneflies.
Dr Tom Tew, chief scientist of Natural England, said 79 species were found only in England.
The country has five groups of species considered to be of international significance: Atlantic ferns, mosses and lichens, breeding seabirds, wintering and passage waterbirds and gulls, grassland and woodland fungi and heathland invertebrates.
An estimated five million waterbirds and gulls live in England at different times of the year. The Wash, which supports 320,000 wildfowl and waders and 47,000 gulls is one of the most important sites in Europe.
We have more older trees than most Northern European countries and internationally important grassland fungi.
But species in decline include all remaining whales and dolphins, all reptiles, 57% of amphibians, 43% of freshwater fish, 37% of terrestial mammals and seals, 35% of bumblebees and 33% of butterflies. There are 943 species listed as needing help under the Biodiversity Action Plan.
On average 26% of England's species are depleted or on the BAP list.
"We are losing species at an alarming rate and many of our species are seriously threatened," Dr Tew said.
On average one plant was lost from every on of England's 23 counties every two years since 1900.
Animals like the lynx and beaver were hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago and the Great Auk disappeared in the 19th century.
The Northern Right whale was also killed off in the 19th century and stocks of Northern Blue Fin tuna have all but disappeared.
The Corncrake bird fell silent when industrial farming and combined harvesters led to the destruction of hedgerows after the second world war.
But Dr Tew said although the report marked a "wake up call" it was not all "unmitigated gloom and doom."
The Red Kite has been successfully re-introduced and is now spreading to London where it used to be familiar sight.
The Corncrake has also been successfully re-introduced and so has the large blue butterfly in a "triumph for ecological science."
The Ladybird spider and sand lizards are coming back in the south west and the polecat is "quietly but surely returning."
"We can do something about it. Firefighting to rescue species in severe decline is not the long-term solution. We need a step change in conservation," Dr Tew said.
"We have to give wildlife more room by protecting existing sites and joining them up. We need a coherent network of sites on land and we need to create new habitats.
"We need to insist on sustainable use of our lands. We need to remove the threats now being posed by invasive species.
"Species loss is not inevitable. We can make real progress in making extinction a thing of the past but it is clear we need to think big and need to be ambitious if we are to tackle it effectively and meet the needs of this and future generations."
Dr Helen Phillips, chief executive of Natural England said 70% of farmland was now under environmental stewardship.
"This report is a stark reminder that we have to start taking the cause of conservation seriously. We put a lot of energy into saving the rainforest or tigers. What this reminds us is that conservation begins at home."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Dr Sue Armstrong-Brown, said: "We have presided over the longest and steepest wildlife declines in generations.
"The report confirms that 412 of the highest priority species are confined to five or fewer sites. These species will continue to need targeted funding, especially through farming subsidies, and site-specific management advice, and we urgently need new ways of protecting wildlife across our countryside and seas, alongside human activity as well as in special nature reserves.
Matt Shardlow, chief executive of Buglife, said: "The Lost Life report provides further confirmation that we are in the midst of an extinction crisis and this crisis is not just affecting rainforests and coral reefs it is happening here in England under our very noses.
"Because it takes 30 years or more for small animals to be declared extinct the report underestimates the number of species of beetles, flies, bees and other insects and invertebrates that are going extinct. We estimate that in the last 40 years between 500 and 1000 species of invertebrate have gone extinct but have yet to be declared as such."
Extinctions of English species examples:
Extinct globally:
Great Auk -1820's
Mitten's bearded moss - 1920
Ivell's sea anemone -1983
Extinct to England:
Northern Right whale- mid 1800's
Great mouse-eared bat -1985
Large tortoishell butterfly -1953
Red-backed shrike 1988
Pashford pot beetle 1986
Short-haired bumblebee 1990
Alpine bladder fern 1911.
Re-introduced:
Red kite
Large blue butterfly
Pool frog
Corncrake.
Recovering after almost being lost.
Pasque flower
Polecat
Bittern
Ladybird spider
Sand lizard
Stone curlew
Pink meadow cap fungi
Rare- few numbers anywhere
Pine Martin
Natterjack toad
Hen Harrier
Bluefin tuna
Shrill Carder bee
Leatherback turtle.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/science/2010/ ... xtinc.html
