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<\/p>\n\n Melting sea ice and deforestation are continuing to drive many species toward extinction, with the latest Red List of Threatened Species showing that more than a quarter of all animals, plants and fungi assessed are at risk.\n <\/p>\n
\n Three species of Arctic seals now face extinction due to global warming, while half the planet\u2019s birds are in decline due to habitat loss. But the return of the green sea turtle shows how, with coordinated conservation efforts, things can be turned around.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Red List, produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is the most authoritative global assessment of extinction risk of species. Released today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, the updated database includes 172,620 species of which 48,646 are threatened with extinction.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Red List records symptoms of extinctions,\u201d said Jon Paul Rodr\u00edguez, chair of IUCN\u2019s Species Survival Commission, speaking to CNN via video call from the conference. \u201cIt\u2019s like a thermometer when you are sick\u2026 you\u2019re measuring something that tells you there\u2019s something wrong; we have to act.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe forces behind degradation of biodiversity are big and they\u2019re widespread and strong,\u201d he added. \u201cBut it\u2019s not that we don\u2019t know what to do, it\u2019s just that there are fewer of us with fewer resources than are needed.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\n The research highlights the plight of Arctic seals, which rely on sea ice for breeding and raising their pups, and use it to rest and access foraging areas. As the Arctic has warmed four times faster<\/a> than the rest of the world, sea ice is rapidly retreating. As a result, the hooded seal is listed as endangered, and the bearded seal and harp seal are near-threatened.\n <\/p>\n \n Thinning sea ice will also threaten other seal species, walruses and marine mammals in the region, according to the update. It will have a wider ecosystem impact, affecting the food web as species such as polar bears have fewer seals to prey on.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cProtecting Arctic seals goes beyond these species; it is about safeguarding the Arctic\u2019s delicate balance, which is essential for us all,\u201d said Kit Kovacs, co-chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Pinniped Specialist Group and biodiversity research leader at the Norwegian Polar Institute, in a statement.\n <\/p>\n \n The update also included a significant reassessment of the state of the world\u2019s birds, which involved thousands of experts over a nine-year period. It found that 61% of bird species are in decline globally, up from 44% in 2016. This is mainly due to habitat loss and degradation, driven especially by agriculture and logging.\n <\/p>\n \n Madagascar, West Africa and Central America were highlighted as at-risk regions, due to the loss of tropical forest. Some threatened species, such as the black-casqued hornbill, found in West and Central Africa, are also under increased threat due to hunting and wildlife trade.\n <\/p>\n \n Hornbills are a key example of the vital role birds can play in the wider ecosystem. In some areas, they are collectively able to disperse up to 12,700 large seeds per kilometer each day<\/a>, making them critical in maintaining healthy and diverse ecosystems and restoring degraded areas. Birds also serve as pollinators, pest controllers and scavengers.\n <\/p>\n \n Ian Burfield, global science coordinator at BirdLife International, the IUCN Red List authority on birds, said in a statement that the findings show \u201chow deep the biodiversity crisis has become\u201d and he urged governments to take strong action.\n <\/p>\n \n The new research offered one glimmer of hope, as populations of the green sea turtle are rebounding thanks to conservation efforts. Found in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide, it is now listed as of least concern rather than endangered, as populations have increased by around 28% since the 1970s.\n <\/p>\n \n Decades of conservation action have mainly focused on protecting nesting females and their eggs and curtailing trade and the unsustainable harvest of turtles and their eggs. The report notes the efforts in Ascension Island, Brazil, Mexico and Hawaii as particularly successful, with some populations rebounding to close to pre-commercial exploitation levels.\n <\/p>\n \n But it warns that the species is not in the clear yet, as much of its habitat is still vulnerable to coastal and marine development and climate change is also having an impact.\n <\/p>\n ![\"Schlegel's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760208908_637_schlegel-s-asity-philepitta-schlegeli-credit-bradley-hacker.jpg\")
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