This figure could almost sum up, in itself, the stakes of the negotiations underway in Cali, Colombia, where the 16e world conference on biodiversity (COP16): more than one in three tree species is today threatened with extinction.
The Legré mountain ash, endemic to the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence; the Hinckley oak, which belongs to the white oak group; more than half of the magnolia species; the horse chestnut, although widely distributed in Europe… Trees are also hit hard by human activities which lead to a collapse of biodiversity. In Cali, negotiators from some 200 countries must say, by Friday 1is November, how they intend to implement their commitments aimed at “making peace with nature”.
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The update of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, published Monday October 28, constitutes the largest assessment of the health of trees. For the first time, the majority of the approximately 64,000 known species have been included in this global register: of the 47,282 species assessed, at least 16,425 (38%) are in danger of extinction, i.e. classified into one of three categories ranging from ” vulnerable “ has “critically endangered”. This assessment, which results from the collaboration of a thousand experts mobilized over several years, confirms the result of a study published in 2021 by the British association Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
“A major role for ecosystems”
“Trees play a major role for ecosystems and populationsemphasizes Eimear Nic Lughadha, the head of conservation assessment and analysis at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. We hope this frightening statistic will prompt urgent action and be used to inform conservation plans. »
The Red List, the most comprehensive global inventory of the state of fauna and flora, is one of the instruments for taking the pulse of biodiversity. Born just sixty years ago, it now lists more than 166,000 plant and animal species, among which 46,337 are threatened. The number of tree species at risk of extinction is twice as many as all threatened species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.
Each time trees disappear, thousands of other species of plants, animals or fungi are in turn weakened. “More than two-thirds of the world's threatened bird species depend on forestsrecalls Cleo Cunningham, responsible for climate and forests at the non-governmental organization (NGO) BirdLife International. This report must be taken seriously for local populations and indigenous peoples who depend on forests. »
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