Every species ever to develop on this planet is bound for extinction sooner or later. To believe it is our duty, or with in our capabilities to prevent this happening is to grant ourselves abilities far beyond what we have, & to assume we are some kind of god to decide the future & value of these species.

Time to drop this self aggrandizement & let nature, & the survival of the fittest take it's course.

In the whole of the 20th century 543 vertebrate species went extinct out of approximately 100,000 such species.

No one knows for sure but it's estimated that there are between 10 and 15 million species worldwide. Again no one knows for sure but the upper estimate for extinctions in the last 1000 years is 10,000.

10,000 out of 10 million.

Get a grip.

The activists never talk about the actual extinctions because the numbers there are scary enough. So we are always told about those species that are always close to extinction - although they rarely get there.

OMG Koalas are going extinct. Except there are 10 time more now than when Cook arrived.

My favourite is the Gouldian Finch. We are told its close to extinction. There is currently a development in the NT threatened because of a Gouldian Finch flock in the region. But...go into any quality pet shop and you'll find them for sale. I used to breed them by the hundreds.

Its all a boondoggle - funds for people who create the problem and then offer a solution.

Do you want to save species in Australia? Declare open season on all wild cats, dogs, horses, camels, deer. Let the army go out for the next decade and have some fun and shooting practice or bait them all.

Declare open season on all wild cats, dogs,
mhaze,
another good reason for national Service !

Notwithstanding all that good science is capable of doing,
humanity won't move closer to a sustainable future
without the use of tools of persuasion, without the
right incentives, and without where necessary strict laws.

This is not to argue that ideas are not important - they are.
However they tend to take a long time to reach and influence
the majority. It's a concern that if the world's leading
climatologists are correct in their prognosis on climate
change and we don't reduce our carbon dioxide emissions -
a myriad of disastrous extreme weather events are likely
to beset the globe and affect all our lives.

There have been too many alarmist claims made by some in
the past. When these claims did not come to fruition - the
environmental advocates lost some of their credibility
and their future messages became muted.

It's been necessary for the environmental
advocates to try to get their message across by whatever
means possible. They don't have the public relations
budgets of the large corporations and governments.
Frightening citizens can work, but the scare has to be real.
And not all the approaches have worked. This is a real
problem in an era where urgent action is required.

Still on a positive note - it's only been several decades that
a generation of educated people have had the available
resources (time and money) to engage in the research,
the discussion, the reflection, and the trials and errors,
that are necessary to forming something
new.

And yet, today the connections have been made by so many
globally, between environmental degradation, and our lifestyles
our burgeoning population, and Third
World poverty. Much time has passed before the essential
links have finally been made. Progress has been slow for
environmentalism - but the world is starting to wake up
and realize that a better world is possible if we work together.
And we must for all of our survival.

.

Dear David,

.

The 2022 IPBS (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) report has just been published. It contains some interesting statistics on our biodiversity.

IPBS was created in 2012 by 139 governments. The report is the result of 4 years of research by 85 experts in more than 50 countries.

The total number of living species on earth is estimated to be in the range of 8 to 10 million, of which about 2 million have been described – insects representing three-quarters of all known animal species.

Humans exploit some 50,000 wild species in various sectors and industries (food, energy, medicine, etc.). A fifth of the world's population depends on wild plants, seaweeds, and mushrooms for food and revenue, and 2.4 billion people depend on wood for cooking.

It is estimated that 1 million animal and vegetable species (1 in 8) will become extinct in the short term, the current rate of extinction is in the range of 10 to 100 times (depending on the species) what it has been during the last 10 million years.

Overexploitation of fishing and hunting combined with the increased world human population is well documented in the report – worth noting : 1,300 mammals, especially the larger animals are particularly endangered.

Nowhere in the report is there any suggestion of a goal of “no extinction”. The authors observe that indigenous people and local populations depend heavily for their existence on natural resources and generally manage them well.

Greater awareness of our dependence on natural resources and the importance of preserving them are badly needed among the non-indigenous world population.

.

"It is estimated that 1 million animal and vegetable species (1 in 8) will become extinct in the short term"

The report says 1 million are 'threatened'. That's completely different from "will become extinct" in the same way as 'I have as cut on my figure' is different to 'my arm will be amputated'.

Do the numbers...
'Short term' is said to be the next few decades. Let's say 50 years.

1 Million in 50 years = 384 per week - every week for 50 years.

Reminder, there were maybe 1000 extinctions in the 20th century or 0.19 species per week.

These claimed 'threatened' species numbers are based on models, not observation. They have been making it up for decades but never got within cooee of the facts.

The real result of these reports are attempts convince governments to keep the funds flowing.