UNITED NATIONS (AP) - There are still too many animals and plants in the world _ and habitats that sustain them at risk of collapse _ despite a global goal set in 2002 for this year reached a considerable improvement, a report warned today UN.
Frogs and other amphibians are at greatest risk of extinction, coral reefs are deteriorating rapidly and the survival of almost a quarter of plant species in the world is threatened, said the UN Convention on Biodiversity, in a report produced every four years.
The evaluation of the ecological diversity of the planet took place under a 1993 treaty already signed by 193 countries. The report says the world is not meeting its target for this year's "a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and national levels."
Pollution, climate change, drought, deforestation, poaching and overfishing are among the main causes.
However, there are some rays of hope. The report says that measures to control the spread of so-called invasive species, for example, have resulted in the rescue of at least 31 species of birds in the last century.
The report provides extremely dire projections for the state of global biodiversity, the disappearance of huge areas of Amazon forest and many freshwater lakes, but many of these problems "could be resolved with the adoption of urgent measures," said Delfin Ganapin, a manager for the Global Environment Facility, which provides funding for efforts to meet the objectives of the treaty.
"All these problems and the conservation of biodiversity could be solved, with urgent action," Ganapin said in a press conference at UN headquarters in New York.
"If we get just a fraction of the money spent to combat the crisis of finance, could avoid much more serious and fundamental breakdowns in the Earth's ecosystems," he added.
None of the 110 countries that submitted reports to the treaty said they had achieved their goals for improvement, he said.
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