An event was held today at the Royal Society to launch the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, which aims to promote peatland restoration in the UK, through evidence gathering and providing advice for policy making and effective practice.

At the launch, the chair of the programme, Rob Stoneman from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, explained that degraded peatlands are responsible for releasing at least 10% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere, so conservation and restoration of peatlands could be instrumental in delivering international obligations on climate change. Indeed, peatland restoration is an element of the Copenhagen accord, but it is important to ensure that this voluntary commitment is realised through legislation. Peatland restoration also avoids loss of valuable services such as water storage and filtration, and supports biodiversity.

The UK is currently among the worst 20 of the world’s 175 peatland nations for carbon emissions, but Rob Stoneman emphasised that peatland restoration is very cheap in comparison to other strategies for carbon reduction, and given the large number of peatlands in the UK, this country could become a world leader in peatland restoration.

The practical output of the programme will be delivered through the Commission of Inquiry into Peatland Restoration, run by the IUCN as part of the peatland programme. Martin Howatt, chair of the Inquiry’s advisory committee, explained that this will involve a review of key issues relating to peatlands which will be used to produce a list of recommendations for action.

There are three upcoming conferences as part of the programme, focussed on stakeholder engagement, funding peatland restoration, and considering UK overseas territories.

The latest update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has been published today, revealing that the number of species threatened with extinction is growing. 47,677 species are on the list, of which 17,291 are at serious risk. This includes 21% of mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates. Amphibians are the group most seriously at risk, with 1,895 of 6,825 known species threatened with extinction. 484 of these species are ‘critically endangered’ and 754 are ‘endangered’. 39 species of amphibian are either ‘extinct’ or ‘extinct in the wild’.

Commenting on the report, Jane Smart, Director of the IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group said: The latest analysis… shows that the 2010 target to reduce biodiversity loss will not be met…It’s time for governments to start getting serious about saving species and make sure it’s high on their agendas for next year, as we are rapidly running out of time.”

Source: BBC News

Access the BES and IEEM position statement on ‘Conserving and Managing Biodiversity Beyond 2010′

The Zoological Society of London has recently launched the National Red List website. It is the first central source of national-level biodiversity data, and already holds over 50,000 species accounts from 40 countries.

The website and database seeks to document all existing species assessments and conservation action plans. The new initiative identifies the taxonomic and geographic gaps in biodiversity data, highlighting those regions in need of National Red Lists assessments. It also provides a baseline to monitor national biodiversity trends and assess the effectiveness of current conservation projects.

Conservation efforts are frequently hindered by the limited availability of species information and accurate extinction risk, so the National Red List website should provide a useful focal point for the global conservation community to share crucial species information. It is hoped that conservation planning will improve as a result.

The IUCN has highlighted the plight of the world’s primates in a comprehensive review of all 634 known species. The IUCN is the world’s leading conservation body, funding, equipping and managing conservation scientists and projects, as well as leading on policy development internationally. The recent published review found that almost half of all primates face extinction unless urgent action is taken across the globe.

One of the greatest threats to primates is habitat loss, which is primarily caused by the burning and clearing of forests for global commercial gain. Habitat destruction is particularly a problem in South-East Asia, in part driven by the growing palm oil plantation industry. Hunting of primates for food is also a considerable threat, especially in Central Africa.

President of Conservation International and leading conservation scientist, Russell A. Mittermeier described the ‘chilling indictment’ of primates globally:

“We’ve raised concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we imagined… …tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but now it appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the habitat is still quite intact. In many places, primates are quite literally being eaten to extinction.”

Two of the 13 red colobus monkeys could already be extinct; Bouvier’s red colobus and Miss Waldron’s red colobus have not been seen by primatologists for 25 and 30 years respectively.

There is some good news however; increasing conservation efforts have had a positive effect on some primates. For example the black lion tamarin and the golden lion tamarin have been downlisted from critically endangered to endangered, after increased protection efforts and successful reintroduction programmes.

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