Scientists' plea to save thousands of species

Urgent international action is needed to save thousands of species facing imminent extinction.

That is the message from 19 of the world's top biodiversity specialists, who have urged governments around the world to work together to save the living planet.

Earth is losing species faster than at any time for at least 65 million years, when it was hit by an enormous asteroid that wiped out thousands of animals and plants, including the dinosaurs.

Scientists say the rate at which species are going extinct is between 100 and 1000 times greater than the normal "background" extinction rate - and it's all because of human activity.

The call for action comes from some of the most distinguished scientists in the field, including Georgina Mace of the UK Institute of Zoology, Peter Raven, head of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis and Robert Watson, chief scientist at the World Bank.

"For the sake of the planet, the biodiversity science community had to create a way to get organised ... and together with one clear voice advise governments on steps to halt the potentially catastrophic loss of species already occurring," Dr Watson said.

In a joint declaration published in the journal Nature, the scientists say Earth is on the verge of a biodiversity catastrophe and only international political co-operation can stem the loss.

Ten years ago, Harvard naturalist Edward O. Wilson calculated that about 30,000 species were becoming extinct each year - a rate of about three species an hour.

Research since then has confirmed that just about every group of plants and animals, from mosses and ferns to palm trees, frogs, and monkeys is experiencing an unprecedented loss of diversity.

In their Nature plea, the scientists say 12 per cent of all birds, 23 per cent of mammals, a quarter of conifers, a third of amphibians and more than half of all palm trees are threatened with imminent extinction.

Climate change alone could lead to the further extinction of between 15 and 37 per cent of all existing species by the end of the century.

There have been five previous mass extinction "waves" in the 3.5 billion-year history of life on Earth.

All are believed to have been caused by major geophysical events that temporarily halted photosynthesis, such as an asteroid collision or the mass eruption of supervolcanoes.

The present wave of extinction began with the migration of humans from Africa about 100,000 years ago.

It accelerated with the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago and began to get worse with the development of industry in the 18th century.

- INDEPENDENT