On September 4th, local time, at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) conference in Hawaii, USA, the organization reduced the threat level of giant pandas from endangered to vulnerable in its latest red list of endangered species. In response, the State Forestry Administration of China responded yesterday that according to the actual work situation and protection situation, the giant panda is still an endangered species, and it is still too early to lower the protection level of the giant panda. Lu Sicheng, Director-General of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in China, said that we should indeed be delighted with this achievement, but at the same time, it must be clear that wild giant pandas still face severe survival risks and still need more extensive protection measures.
□ Change
Giant pandas are degraded but still in danger of extinction.
It is understood that IUCN is the largest and oldest global environmental protection organization in the world and the only international organization in the field of natural environmental protection and sustainable development as a permanent observer of the United Nations General Assembly. Founded in Fontainebleau, France in 1948, with its headquarters in Grand, Switzerland.
IUCN’s Red List of Endangered Species has been compiled since 1963, and it is updated once every four years. It is considered to be the most comprehensive list to record the current situation of global animal and plant species protection and one of the most authoritative indicators of biodiversity.
The list divides the species protection level into 9 levels, the highest is "extinction", followed by "wild extinction". The three levels of extremely dangerous, endangered and vulnerable are collectively called "threatened", followed by "near danger", "no danger", "lack of data" and "not evaluated".
At the global conference held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, IUCN released the latest red list. According to the catalogue, due to the persistent efforts of China, the number of giant pandas is slowly increasing, so the rating of giant pandas is reduced from "endangered" to "vulnerable".
According to the latest survey data released by China in February last year, by the end of 2013, there were 1,864 wild giant pandas in China, an increase of 16.8%.
In a message published on its official website, IUCN said that the improvement of the living conditions of giant pandas "proves that the efforts of the China government to protect this animal are effective", including vigorously rebuilding the bamboo forests needed for pandas to live. But at the same time, climate change will lead to the main food for giant pandas in the next 80 years — — The number of bamboo has decreased by more than 35%, so its situation is "vulnerable" and it is still in danger of extinction, and extensive protection measures still need to be implemented.
Four species of apes are only one step away from extinction.
In addition, in this report, IUCN also mentioned that the situation of Tibetan antelopes has also improved, and the considerable growth has reduced the rating of Tibetan antelopes from "endangered" to "near-endangered" and removed the label of "threatened species" in one fell swoop.
John Robinson, chief environmental officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society, another international environmental protection organization, told reporters: "Few species can be crossed off the (endangered) list, which shows that the protection measures are effective."
However, in the global village, the living conditions of six anthropoid species, such as gorillas, are getting worse. IUCN said that the gorillas in East Africa, West Africa, Borneo and Sumatra are all in a state of "extreme danger" and "only one step away from extinction"; Chimpanzees and bonobos are listed as "endangered" species.
The list specifically mentions that East African gorillas are "in danger". At present, there are only about 5,000 gorillas in the world, and they are still decreasing. In the past 20 years, war, hunting and human beings
The occupation of habitat has caused the number of gorillas in East Africa to "catastrophically decrease by more than 70%".
The number of East African lowland gorillas, a subspecies of East African gorillas, decreased sharply from 16,900 in 1994 to 3,800 in 2015. Fortunately, the number of another subspecies of mountain gorillas has increased slightly, but the number is only about 880.
Experts point out that the biggest threat to gorillas is hunting.
Inge Anderson, director-general of IUCN, said: "Today is a sad day, because the red list of IUCN shows that we are destroying some of our close relatives."
In fact, not only animals, but also many plants around the world are gradually becoming extinct. In Hawaii, the venue of the IUCN Congress, 38 of the 415 local plants were rated as "extinct", 4 as "extinct in the wild" and 87% as "threatened".
□ Respond to the high risk of semi-extinction of giant pandas in 33 local populations.
Yesterday, in response to IUCN’s downgrade of the protection level of giant pandas, the State Forestry Administration responded that giant pandas are still endangered species, and it is too early to downgrade the protection level of giant pandas, and proposed four reasons why they should not be downgraded.
According to the State Forestry Administration, the China government has attached great importance to the protection and management of giant pandas for a long time, and the protection of giant pandas has achieved initial results. According to the results of the fourth giant panda survey in China released in early 2015, the wild population of giant pandas increased from 1,596 in 2003 to 1,864 in 2013, an increase of 16.8%. The number of captive population increased from 164 to 375.
However, the State Forestry Administration believes that IUCN’s report is a theoretical judgment based on relevant data and technical indicators. As the management department of giant panda protection, the State Forestry Administration thinks that giant pandas are still endangered species and it is too early to lower the protection level of giant pandas.
At present, the threat and endangered status of giant pandas can not be ignored. If the protection level is lowered, the protection work will be neglected and lax, and the giant panda population and habitat will be irreversibly lost and destroyed, and the protection already obtained will soon be lost, especially some local small populations may become extinct at any time. Therefore, it is not alarmist to continue to emphasize the endangerment of giant pandas.
> > the main reason
Habitat fragmentation is still the main factor threatening its survival, and some local populations still face survival risks. Giant pandas are only distributed in narrow areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Due to natural isolation and human interference, the wild population of giant pandas is divided into 33 local populations. There are 22 populations with less than 30 individuals and the risk of extinction, 18 local populations with less than 10 individuals and high risk of extinction.
◎ The situation of population communication needs to be improved. Affected by habitat fragmentation, gene exchange among local populations of giant pandas is blocked. In addition, due to the influence of region and management system, there is insufficient gene communication among captive individuals in giant panda captivity units. It is necessary to further strengthen the gene exchange of giant pandas in order to maintain the genetic diversity of the whole population and maintain the vitality of the population.
◎ The impact of global climate change. According to IUCN, one third of the bamboo forests on which giant pandas depend may disappear in the next 80 years, which will have an immeasurable impact on the survival of giant pandas.
◎ Protection and management capabilities still need to be strengthened. In some giant panda distribution areas, there are insufficient investment in protection funds and generally low professional skills of front-line staff, which seriously restricts the effectiveness of giant panda protection and the ability of protection and management needs to be improved.
□ Sound Giant Panda has become a symbol of wildlife protection in the 21st century.
In fact, the giant panda is not only the national treasure of China, but also has a high status in the world. As one of the largest independent non-governmental environmental protection organizations in the world, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has a giant panda as its emblem. Peter scott, a naturalist and painter, one of the founders of WWF, designed the institutional logo of WWF based on the panda in 1961. In 1980, WWF became the first international organization to carry out protection work in China, and began to participate in the protection of giant pandas.
Yesterday, Kyle Rambotti, global director-general of WWF, pointed out that the protection situation of giant pandas has brought together millions of people around the world to participate in the cause of wild species protection, find problems and make efforts to make changes. Today, the good living conditions of giant pandas have given us all a chance to see hope.
Lu Sicheng, Director-General of WWF China, said, "We should be delighted with this achievement, but at the same time, we must be aware that wild giant pandas still face severe survival risks, and a considerable part of their habitats are threatened by various factors such as infrastructure construction. More importantly, the number of wild giant pandas in the world is only 1864. "
"The giant panda represents the face of wild species protection in the 20th century: we must take decisive action to protect a species before it disappears forever." Rambotti said that although there is still uncertainty about the sustainable recovery of the giant panda population, it can become a symbol of wild species protection in the 21st century. It is believed that by establishing and deepening the cooperation among the government, local communities, non-governmental organizations, enterprises and individuals, we can jointly meet more complex protection challenges, protect the natural landscape and ensure the living environment of wild species closely related to the better life of mankind in the future.
> > IUCN red list
Nearly 30,000 species are close to extinction.
IUCN’s Red List of Endangered Species is a list to measure the living conditions and threats of major species in the world. It was compiled in 1963, and the endangered species were divided into seven grades, from high to low, namely, extinction, wild extinction, extremely endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near endangered and non-endangered. Among them, extremely endangered, endangered and vulnerable species are collectively referred to as threatened species.
Today, this red list includes 82,954 species, making it the largest list of threatened species in the world. Among them, 23,928 species of animals and plants are classified as "extremely endangered", "endangered" or "vulnerable" and are in danger of extinction, accounting for about 29% of the assessed.
Shi Haitao, a professor at Hainan Normal University and a reptile ecologist, said that the Red List of Endangered Species published by the World Conservation Union has a high authority and has a high recognition in the world at present. According to Shi Haitao, at present, more than 100 countries in the world recognize the Red List of Endangered Species published by the organization, including China. "Compared with other similar organizations, this number is quite high."
Carlo Rondinini, a mammal expert at the Italian University of sapienza, said that compared with the Red List in 2008, nearly 28% of the mammals evaluated today are threatened with extinction, an increase of 3%.
For example, the number of zebra in the plain has dropped from 660,000 to 500,000 in the past 14 years, and its rating has also been upgraded from "no danger" to "near danger". (Reporter Wei Zhang Ning Ma Jinfeng)