 Mahe Island, Seychelles
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Nov. 18, 2003 — Tropical islands such as the Seychelles and the Galapagos, famed for the biodiversity of their flora and fauna, are under mounting threat from humans and could turn into barren wastelands if development is not slowed.
That was the stark warning in a report published Tuesday by the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), which said habitats were being destroyed at an alarming rate, with the number of endangered species on the rise.
"Places such as the Galapagos, Hawaii and the Seychelles are famed for their beauty which owes itself to the diversity of plants, animals and ecosystems," the IUCN said as it released its annual "Red List" of endangered species.
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"The Red List tells us that human activities are leading to a swathe of extinctions that could make these islands ecologically and aesthetically barren," it said.
Tourism and agriculture were threatening biodiversity on islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans — in one example, four plants growing only on the South Atlantic island of Ascension have become extinct in the past year.
"As on many other islands around the world, habitat destruction, introducing grazing animals and predation by and competition with invasive species are unrelenting. Invasive species have caused the extinction of four of Ascension's plants that are found nowhere else on Earth," the organization reported.
"Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena, Ascension and the Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas) ... have developed their own unique suites of animals and plants that are extremely vulnerable to human disturbance."
The organization also highlighted Hawaii, where the introduction of herbivores first brought there at the end of the 18th century had severely harmed the ecosystem, as had weeds and imported insects.
"Add to this housing development, tourism infrastructure, and agriculture, and the future for the Hawaiian flora looks grim."
The IUCN placed 12,259 species on its Red List, about a 10 percent increase over 2002's figure of 11,167.
But that did not mean nature in general was increasingly under threat, rather that thousands of its researchers had placed more species on the list. Algae and lichen, for example, appear on the Red List for the first time.
The IUCN, based in Gland in Switzerland, has members in some 140 countries.
More than 10,000 internationally-recognized scientists and experts from more than 180 countries volunteer their services to its six global commissions.
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