This decade-long project reveals that over one-third of plant species are at risk of extinction, highlighting the scale of the crisis facing our ecosystems.
A report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released during the two-week United Nations biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia, shows that among 47,282 assessed plant species, at least 16,425 are at risk of extinction—twice the number of all endangered bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species combined.
A deforested area near La Paz, Guaviare province, Colombia. (Photo: Bloomberg).
Fossil fuel pollution is warming the planet and threatening trees, exacerbating the climate crisis, as trees play a crucial role in removing pollution from the atmosphere.
According to researchers, some major threats facing trees include deforestation for urban development, agriculture, invasive species, diseases, as well as rising sea levels and more severe storms.
Grethel Aguilar, Director General of IUCN, stated at a press conference on October 28 in Colombia: “This list shows that the loss of trees directly threatens thousands of other species, including plants, fungi, and animals, demonstrating the close connections in our natural world.”
Aguilar further mentioned that trees produce the oxygen we breathe, provide food and shelter for wildlife, offer medicine and nutrition for indigenous peoples, and absorb carbon pollution that traps heat in the atmosphere.
The majority of threatened tree species are found on islands such as Fiji, Cuba, and Madagascar. In South America, home to the Amazon rainforest, 3,356 out of 13,668 assessed tree species are at risk of extinction due to deforestation for agriculture and livestock farming.
Aguilar emphasized that urgent conservation efforts to prevent species extinction must start with trees.
“Can you imagine a planet without trees? We, humans, have the ability to reverse this and save the trees we depend on, so the task we must undertake is immense,” she highlighted.
