The Canary Islands concentrate more than half of the critically endangered species in the country. According to data presented in the report "State of Biodiversity in Spain" prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), of the 193 species of animals and plants in this situation, 101 are found in the Archipelago. Rancho Texas Lanzarote Park has been one of the collaborators of this project in the Canary Islands.
The most affected group would be plants with up to 50% of the cases, such as the cockscomb, endemic to Gran Canaria, followed by mollusks such as the corrugated chuchanga in Tenerife, and cartilaginous fish such as the angelshark, which has one of its last breeding bastions in the archipelago, explained Javier Almunia, director of the Loro Parque Foundation, during the presentation of the report.
"The Canary Islands is the most biodiverse territory within the Spanish State and we also have more critically endangered species, since we are in a small, isolated territory with many unique endemisms in the world, which suffer great pressure from the point of view of human occupation that has caused many species to see their habitat reduced," said Almunia.
Endangered species
The study also analyzes the group of species in danger of extinction, where Spain reaches 418 cases, of which 141 are found in the islands, among which plants stand out again, followed by insects such as the stick grasshopper in Gran Canaria, and fish such as oceanic manta rays.
To which are added the species in a situation of vulnerability, where the figure increases to 493, which reminds us of the need to "put more emphasis on the protection of biodiversity".
As for the areas with the greatest pressure, there are the Jandía peninsula in Fuerteventura, the Isleta area in Gran Canaria, Punta de Teno in Tenerife, Tibataje and Las Playas in El Hierro, as well as almost the entire Gomera, places that are mostly already under protection.
To help create more awareness and promote the defense of nature, the organizations that participated in the preparation of the report also presented today an educational project for citizens through the INaturalist application, with which its users will be able to collect information on threatened species, which will serve, according to them, to improve their conservation.
An initiative that seeks to take advantage of the celebration of the World Day of Biological Diversity to highlight a reality that the intergovernmental platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) already denounced in 2019 and that may cause the disappearance of one million species worldwide in the coming decades.
An ecological disaster that even the World Economic Forum has incorporated into its global risk report for the world economy this year.
