According to an updated list of endangered species released earlier this month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Arctic seals and birds are increasingly threatened primarily due to climate change and human activities.
The IUCN has indicated that habitat destruction resulting from logging and agricultural expansion poses significant risks to bird populations. In contrast, seals face threats mainly from global warming and various human activities, including maritime traffic. The organization has changed the status of the hooded seal from vulnerable to endangered, while bearded and harp seals are now considered near threatened.
“This timely global update highlights the ever-increasing impact human activity is having on nature and the climate and the devastating effects this has,” said Grethel Aguilar, the director general of the IUCN, during a press briefing at its World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi.
Currently, the IUCN red list includes 172,620 species, of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction. The ongoing effects of global warming are particularly detrimental to seals that inhabit cold regions, as their natural habitats are being destroyed. Other threats to these species include maritime traffic, mining, oil extraction, industrial fishing, and hunting.
The IUCN reported that global warming is occurring four times faster in the Arctic compared to other regions, significantly reducing the extent and duration of sea ice cover. “Ice-dependent seals are a key food source for other animals,” the IUCN further noted, emphasizing their essential role in the food web by consuming fish and invertebrates and recycling nutrients. These seals are considered one of the “keystone species” in their respective ecosystems.
Researcher Kit Kovacs from the Norwegian Polar Institute expressed concern about the Svalbard archipelago, located between Norway and the North Pole. “When I lived in the archipelago, just a couple of decades ago, we had five months of sea ice cover in areas that are now winter ice-free. It is really hard to express just how rapidly the Arctic is changing,” she remarked.
In addition to the challenges facing seals and birds, the IUCN”s red list, which resulted from nine years of extensive research by thousands of experts, has revealed alarming trends in bird populations. “Overall, 61% of bird species have declining populations, an increase from 44 percent in 2016,” the IUCN stated. The assessment involved thousands of bird species globally, identifying that 1,256 (11.5%) of the 11,185 species evaluated are globally threatened.
This year”s update particularly focused on regions where tropical forest destruction is increasingly threatening bird species. In Madagascar, 14 species were newly classified as near threatened, while three others were categorized as vulnerable. Additionally, five bird species in West Africa and one more in Central America were identified as near threatened.
However, there is some positive news. The IUCN announced that the green turtle is no longer classified as endangered, citing “decades of sustained conservation action” that have led to a 28% recovery of its population since the 1970s. “The green turtle has improved from Endangered to Least Concern thanks to decades of dedicated protection,” the organization shared on social media.
Nicolas Pilcher, the Executive Director of the Marine Research Foundation, emphasized that this success should motivate continued efforts rather than complacency. “Just because we have reached this great step in conservation isn”t a reason to sit back and then become complacent,” he stated.
