International warning as Aussie icon faces extinction
Climate change has been singled out as a major contributor to the demise of plants and animals on the IUCN Red List.
An iconic black and red Australian cockatoo is a step closer to extinction, according to an international list of animal and plant species.
Announced at COP28 on Tuesday, the palm cockatoo was uplisted from least concern to near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Of the 157,190 species that the IUCN assessed across the world, it declared 44,016 (nearly a third) are now at risk of being wiped out. That’s a significant jump from last year, when only 42,108 of 150,388 assessed faced extinction.
Among the high-profile updates on the Red List was a disturbing warning about the world’s freshwater fish species. It found a quarter of the 14,898 species examined are threatened with extinction, with climate change identified as a leading cause.
Climate changing driving species extinction
In a year that will likely be the world’s hottest since record keeping began, world leaders are continuing to debate whether the world needs to stop burning fossil fuels. Overnight Australia’s climate change minister Chris Bowen singled out Saudi Arabia as having a “different view” to nations like his who want them phased out.
If Australia was to stop producing fossil fuels it would mark a significant change for the nation, as it remains one of the world's biggest exporters of coal and natural gas.
Ahead of the Red List’s release, IUCN director general Dr Grethel Aguilar said the species declines are a warning to the world that global heating must be kept below 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels.
“Climate change is menacing the diversity of life our planet harbours, and undermining nature’s capacity to meet basic human needs,” she said. “This IUCN Red List update highlights the strong links between the climate and biodiversity crises, which must be tackled jointly.”
Other high-profile species to be uplisted include mahogany trees, Atlantic salmon and Central South Pacific and East Pacific green turtles.
Including an animal on the international Red List, helps build its profile and bolster protection efforts, but admitting a species is facing extinction is still a blow. There have been some signs of recovery for Australia’s bogong moth since it was declared endangered by the IUCN in 2021, after it suddenly disappeared from our skies, despite once being viewed as an over-abundant pest.
Why palm cockatoos are threatened with extinction
Palm cockatoos were the most high profile local species to be added to the Red List in 2022, as they are internationally renowned for drumming displays on hollow trees and known to live between 47 and 90 years.
In Australia, the cockatoos live around Cape York and are thought to number just 2,200 mature individuals. The IUCN found its dependance on trees with hollows is a major factor constraining their abundance.
In Papua New Guinea and West Papua, habitat loss from agriculture, logging and road building as well as poaching for the pet trade are thought to be contributors to their demise.
Other Australian additions to the Red List
The Red List now contains 1,890 Australian animals, plants and fungi threatened with extinction.
A little-known species that was uplisted from vulnerable to endangered is the tapping nursery frog. The small amphibian is primarily threatened by climate change and the predicted territorial expansion of the invasive yellow crazy ant.
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Reflecting on the new additions, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Peta Bulling was reminded that Australia has a “terrible record” protecting native animals.
Noting that the country’s wildlife is facing increasing pressure from habitat loss, caused by agriculture, housing developments, logging and mining, she said extinction is a choice our leaders are making.
“Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has set a target of no more extinctions and is overseeing a major reform of Australia’s environment law," she said.
“To stop more Australian wildlife from going the way of the Thylacine, the government must urgently strengthen our environment laws so they tackle the big drivers of extinction – deforestation and climate change.”
Authorities respond to palm cockatoo listing
Minister Plibersek's office directed questions from Yahoo News Australia about the palm cockatoo's listing and whether further extinctions could be prevented to the Department of Environment.
"The global population of palm cockatoo has been assessed by the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened, because it is approaching the thresholds that could make it eligible for international listing as a threatened species," it said in a statement.
"The changes in the IUCN Red List are a result of assessments conducted by an international network of experts. Australian experts make an important contribution to this network. Their work provides valuable information to prioritise species for legal protection within Australia."
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