(03 June 2015) – Nearly 15% of birds in the EU are threatened with extinction, as well as 7.5% of all marine fish species in European waters, according to new ‘Red Lists’ published today at Green Week.
Green Week 2015, Europe’s biggest conference dedicated to environment policy which opens today,will look at the reasons behind these trends and ways to fight back against declining biodiversity.
Coming after the recent State of Nature report, these latest Red Lists, financed by the European Commission, paint a similarly mixed picture of European wildlife and underline the urgent need for action. They also demonstrate that efforts to improve vulnerable ecosystems can be highly effective.
Despite some conservation successes, many fish are in decline due to overfishing, changing land use, pollution, infrastructure development and climate change.
Looking at birds, 13% of the 533 species assessed (i.e. 67) are under threat, including 10 that are Critically Endangered (the highest threat level).