A Planet in Peril: Our Campaign to Protect Endangered Species
By the year 2030, there are potentially thousands of species that will disappear from our planet due to the crisis point in our biodiversity.
Just last December 2020, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared 31 species that have already become extinct – and that number will inevitably grow unless there is immediate action.
“Extinction” does not necessarily mean that our planet cannot reverse the loss of biodiversity. The planet like the human body can recover – but only if measures are taken swiftly.
This year, Fonfrège has partnered with the IUCN Species Survival Commission to bring awareness and financial support to their mission, with a special Limited Edition T-Shirt designed by Brazilian artist Bárbara Dantas.
The majority of proceeds from the sale of the t-shirt directly funds the SSN and the important work they do.
The very real effects of global warming continue to take a critical toll on the entire ecosystem which makes up our planet. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is one of the benchmarks for measuring that toll.
“Experts have already warned us that we’ve reached Earth’s limits in terms of her capacity to sustain plants, animals and fungi at current levels. If we think of Earth as an investment for life this is like eroding the capital, instead of living from the dividends.”
We know how to do conservation, we just need to do a lot more of it.”
JonPaul Rodriguez is the chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, a science-based network of more than 9,000 volunteer experts from almost every country of the world, all working together towards achieving the vision of, “A just world that values and conserves nature through positive action to reduce the loss of diversity of life on earth”.
JonPaul Rodriguez is chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.
“Extinction” does not necessarily mean that our planet cannot reverse the loss of biodiversity. The planet like the human body can recover – but only if measures are taken swiftly.
“There is plenty of evidence that if we let her do it, nature bounces back,” says JonPaul. “We have seen it in the sea, on land, and in rivers and lakes. Infinitely more money is spent destroying nature than saving species and ecosystems. We just need to tip the balance in favor of nature. We know how to do conservation, we just need to do a lot more of it.”
Each has its part in our biodiversity: only 10,000 Snow Leopards are known to exist. The location of Rhizanthella gardneri or “Underground Orchid” is kept secret with only 50 known to exist; deforestation of the Amazon has put the Poison Dart Frog on the IUCN Red List.
Unfortunately, some species lost forever. Each loss in species diversity impacts yet another species, and so on and so on, to the point where we are now: a crisis in the survival of our planet’s ecosystem.
The Oil Tanker fire in Sri Lanka devasted the populations of seals and sea turtles and other marine life. Six different sea turtle species are on the IUCN Red List.
The IUCN Red List is currently tracking over 128,918 species, of which, 35,765 are threatened with extinction. The Species Survival Commission’s experts provide the IUCN with scientific information on where our biodiversity is being compromised, and why those particular species are a warning sign: the proverbial canary in the coalmine of a much larger danger.
“SSC members also provide scientific advice to conservation organizations, government agencies, and other IUCN members, and support the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements,” says JonPaul.
Perhaps the most important work they do is in participating as a formal observer at the United Nations General Assembly and supporting the conservation efforts to partner nations around the world. These connections help turn knowledge into action.
In 1993 at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, nearly 200 world leaders and representatives signed treaty legislation for urgent action on the conservation of species.
Since then, researchers suggest that between 28 and 48 bird and mammal species were saved. But there is still work to be done.
DONATE NOW | Purchase our Limited Edition t-shirt @fonfrege.com and support the IUCN Species Survival Commission. To learn more about the work they do, click here.
