Alarming report released yesterday on the decline of waterbird species = worldwide. Note the 37% decline in North America
Greenwire -- Tuesday, January 23, 2007 BIRDS: Worldwide water species are in decline, survey finds Nearly half of waterbird species worldwide are in decline due to a loss = of wetlands in many regions from either economic or agricultural = development or rising temperatures that cause severe droughts and rising = sea levels, according to the fourth Waterbird Population Estimate survey = released today. The survey found that 44 percent of the 900 waterbird species globally = have fallen in the past five years, 34 percent are stable and 17 percent = are seeing a rise in population figures. In 2002, 41 percent of waterbird population were found to be decreasing = in the survey. The worst decreases since then occurred in Asia where 62 percent of the = waterbird populations declined or become extinct. Africa came second = with a 48 percent decline, Oceania saw a 45 percent decline, South = America saw 42 percent, 41 percent in Europe and 37 percent in North = America. Wetlands International waterbird conservation officer Simon Delany = coordinated the survey, which was done over 50,000 hours of field work = in 100 countries. "The most frequent known cause of population decrease = is habitat destruction, often caused by unsustainable human activity," = Delany said. "The frantic pace of economic development is clearly having = adverse impacts on the environment, including numbers and population = trends of waterbirds. Human impacts such as urban sprawl, reclamation of = wetlands, increase of pollution and hunting pressure can develop rapidly = and conservation considerations are often not taken into account" = (Michael Casey, AP/San Francisco Chronicle online = <http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=3D/n/a/2007/01/23/international/= i014653S70.DTL>, Jan. 23). -- RJD Want more stories like this every day? Sign up for a free trial and get = the best environmental and energy policy coverage available. Go to = <http://www.eenews.net/trial/> Mark Martell Director of Bird Conservation Audubon Minnesota 2357 Ventura Drive #106 St. Paul, MN 55125 651-739-9332 651-731-1330 (FAX) http://mn.audubon.org To donate to Audubon Minnesota online, visit our secure site at = <http://mn.audubon.org/support_ways.html>
