30,000 kinds of plants, 5,000 animals threatened with extinction, disappear one kind per hour

Habitat destruction, over-exploitation of resources, environmental quality degradation and invasive species are causing the extinction of species “Disaster Quartet”, and human activity is the current large-scale loss of biological diversity, the main reason. At present, the world’s biological species is the rate per hour and one kind of disappearing, there are around 34,000 kinds of plants and more than 5200 kinds of animals threatened with extinction. This is from May 22 in Beijing at the “International Biodiversity Day” campaign on the public informed of.

Biodiversity is the formation of biological and ecological environment and the associated complex of the various ecological processes combined. Extinction of wild species, local extinction range, subspecies and ecocide are common forms of biodiversity loss. According to statistics, about 36.3% of species threatened with extinction, more than half of China’s mammal numbers have drastically declined.

At present, protection of biodiversity has attracted nationwide attention, as global co-operation, the main channels, including in situ and ex situ. Among them, the in situ conservation of biological diversity in the establishment of nature reserves is the most effective protection.

Source: 3万种植物5千种动物濒临灭绝 每小时消失1种 – xinhuanet, Science and Technology Daily

Date: 25 May 2010