The extent to which biodiversity is being eroded away is now clear. Here, we provide a brief overview of the general condition of our planet's biodiversity.
Biodiversity throughout the world
Some figures
- Approximately 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed each year around the world, (the equivalent of 36 football pitches per minute), according to the WWF.
- 5000 orangutans die each year because of the palm oil industry. At this rate, NGOs estimate that orangutans will have died out by 2020, according to the WWF.
- Between 1350 and 3100 billion euros each year: this is the cost of the erosion of our biodiversity according to a study presented to the UN conference in Bonn on May 29, 2008.
The world's top 10 endangered species in 2010 according to the WWF
- Tigers. Studies show that there are now only an estimated 3200 tigers left in the wild.
- Polar Bears. A large number of polar bear populations are set to vanish off the face of the earth during the coming century if arctic warming continues.
- The Pacific Walrus is one of the more recent victims of climate change. These animals use ice shelves to rest, give birth to their young and feed them safely away from predators.
- The Magellanic Penguin is experiencing a rapid fall in population numbers. Fish are being moved further out by ocean currents due to global warming, requiring them to swim further to find food.
- The Leatherback Turtle is the largest sea turtle. Barely 2300 adult females today survive in the Pacific.
- The Bluefin Tuna. A species facing extinction if non-sustainable fishing practices are not stopped.
- The Mountain Gorilla. No more than 720 remain in the wild.
- The Monarch Butterfly. This species migrates from North America to its winter home in Mexico, taking advantage of the high altitude pine forests.
- The Java Rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals. This species has been declared to be extinct in Vietnam since 2010 due to poaching, and there is only a population of around 50 now living in an Indonesian nature park.
- The Giant Panda is under threat due to the destruction of its forest environment in China.
The state of biodiversity in France
Some figures
- 62,000 species are on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list, classified by the degree to which they are endangered. Of them, 20,000 are considered endangered.
- 35,200 animal and plant species have been listed in France according to the Ministry for Sustainable Development.
- France is the world's third-largest user of pesticides, according to the Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Housing.
- 378 animal species and 486 remarkable plant species are under threat in France, both on the mainland and in the overseas départements and territories according to the Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Housing.
- 10% of all mammal species were under threat in mainland France in 2009, according to the French committee of the IUCN and the National Natural History Museum
Categories of mammals listed as endangered in France in 2009 by the IUCN
- The Monk Seal disappeared from the coasts of Provence during the 1930s and from Corsica in the 1970s.
-The Spanish Ibex is a species which disappeared in January 2000.
- Species facing a critical risk of extinction
- The Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat is a bat typically found in Mediterranean climates. It was last seen in 1963.
-The Brown Bear. Only around 15 of these bears remain in mainland France, in the Pyrenees, thanks to successive re-introduction programmes for females and males in the early 2000s.
- The European Hamster is found in Alsace. This species has been protected since 1993.
- The Eurasian Lynx is the largest European member of the cat family. Fewer than 150 individuals remain of this species.
- The European Mink. Its distribution area has been greatly reduced and is now limited to just a few départements in the Aquitaine and Poitou-Charentes regions.
- The Sperm Whale is the largest toothed cetacean species. In France, it can be seen in the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean.
- The Long-fingered bat is a bat with a preference for aquatic environments. This creature is becoming increasingly rare due to the pollution of waterways.
- The Maghreb mouse-eared bat is a very large bat. Its population numbers have been falling due to scarcer availability of prey as a result of pesticide use.
- The Grey Wolf made its return during the 1990s after having disappeared in the 1930s. In early 2006, the French population was estimated at approximately 120 wolves.
- The Mouflon is an animal hunted for its meat and was traditionally seen as a trophy.
- The Schreiber’s bent-winged bat is a medium-sized bat. The species may disappear due to excessive construction and tourism.
The European Otter and the Alpine Ibex are both good examples of the real progress which can be made thanks to effective action by the public authorities and nature conservation associations.
