Helmut Melzer
The good news: 110 new species have been discovered. The bad: 120.372 animal and plant species are on the red list. Environmental toxins play a major role in this.
2.500 new species discovered in the last 20 years, 110 in the last two years. - This is WWF's record. Despite the good news, the extinction of species is progressing: The World Conservation Union IUCN now scientifically registers a total of 120.372 animal and plant species on the Red List.
Over a quarter of these fall into the highest risk categories. “The great extinction of species is man-made. We obstruct, pollute and overexploit our nature at record speed. That not only harms countless animals, but ultimately robs us of our own livelihood, ”warns Georg Scattolin from WWF. Now even the European hamster is threatened worldwide.
The threat from power plants continues: A new WWF study shows that more than 500 dams are planned within protected areas worldwide. Researchers warn of an acceleration in species extinction due to this wave of river barriers. In Austria, almost every third new hydropower project is planned in a protected area.
And the latest data research by Public Eye and Unearthed reveals the extent to which the EU is exporting pesticides that are banned on its own soil. The NGOs: “A hypocritical legal system allows the agrochemical companies to supply countries with weaker pesticide regulations on a large scale with substances that are no longer allowed to be used in EU agriculture due to their dangerousness. Syngenta, based in Basel, is number one in this business. "
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