Every year, mammals, birds, fish and insects make epic migrations between habitats. The humpback whale, famously, can travel 5,000 miles in a trip.
But because these animals cross national borders and frequently congregate at predictable way stops, they are uniquely vulnerable to human predation, pollution and habitat loss. As a result, one in five migratory species is at risk of extinction, according to a new report by the United Nations.
State of the World’s Migratory Species is a first-ever global survey focused solely on migratory species. The key findings are grim. Of the roughly 1,200 species already listed and protected under the UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), a 1979 global conservation treaty, 44 percent have declining populations. It’s even worse if you look at migratory reptiles, 70 percent of which are facing extinction, and fish, a shocking 97 percent of which are in danger of going extinct. Migratory species, a group that includes iconic animals such as Monarch butterflies, comprise a major food source for other wildlife and perform critical roles like pollination in ecosystems.
Photo: K. Grosskruetz /Wikimedia Commons I 照片:K. Grosskruetz /維基共享資源
It’s clear that humans are the primary cause of this apocalypse, said Kelly Malsch, the report’s lead author and head of the species program at the UN Environment Program’s World Conservation Monitoring Center. While these species face many barriers to health, “there were two underlying threats, overexploitation and habitat loss, that were affecting most,” she said. “This includes direct exploitation like hunting and fishing but also indirect takings through bycatch or mist nets.” (Mist nets are hard-to-detect nets used to capture birds and bats or prevent them from accessing gardens and crops.)
The report is not the first to sound the alarm about the vast wildlife-extinction crisis facing the planet. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species is perhaps the best-known inventory of all endangered species. But this is the first report solely on the status of migratory species, which face conservation challenges that require cooperation from multiple countries — the reason for creating the CMS in the first place.
The goal of the survey was not only to point to the dangers facing species but to help identify crucial habitat areas that should be a priority for protection. Just under half of sites identified as important are now subject to some level of protection, the report says, but “many critical sites for CMS-listed species are yet to be mapped.”
Photo courtesy of Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, Ministry of Agriculture 照片:農業部林業及自然保育署提供
If there is a silver lining, it is that some conservation partnerships have been successful at protecting individual species. Whaling bans, for example, enabled the western South Atlantic population of humpbacks to rebound from 450 individuals in the 1950s to 27,000 by 2019, close to their pre-whaling abundance.(Bloomberg)
每年,許多哺乳動物、鳥類、魚類及昆蟲都會進行史詩般漫長艱辛的遷徙,到另一個棲息地。眾所周知,座頭鯨一次可以航行5,000 英里。
但由於這些動物的遷徙跨越國界,中途常有固定的停留聚集處,因此特別容易受到人類捕食、污染與棲息地消失的影響。聯合國新發布的報告指出,這造成了五分之一的遷徙物種瀕臨滅絕。
Photo: Lee Zi Xin / Wikimedia Commons 照片:Lee Zi Xin /維基共享資源
《全球遷徙物種現況》是首次專門針對遷徙物種的全球調查。主要的調查結果令人憂心。1979年簽署的全球保育條約《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》所列出並保護的約1,200個物種,有44%其族群數目正在下降。更糟的是,其中爬蟲類有70%面臨滅絕,魚類則是令人震驚地有97%面臨滅絕的危險。遷徙物種包括帝王蝶等代表性動物,是其他野生動物的主要食物來源,並在生態系中發揮授粉等關鍵作用。
該報告的主要作者、聯合國環境規劃署世界保護監測中心物種計畫負責人凱利? 馬許表示,很明顯,人類是這場災難的主要原因。雖然這些物種面臨許多健康上的挑戰,但「影響最大的是過度捕撈和棲息地消失這兩個潛在威脅」,她說。「這包括狩獵及捕魚等直接獵捕,也包括混獲或霧網的間接捕獲」。(霧網是難以察覺的網,用來捕獲捉鳥類和蝙蝠,或阻止其進入花園及農作物間)。
該報告並不是第一份對野生動物所面臨巨大滅絕危機發出警示的報告。國際自然保護聯盟發布的「瀕危物種紅色名錄」或許是最著名的瀕危物種名錄。但這是第一份專門針對遷徙物種現況的報告,遷徙物種面臨的保育挑戰需要多國合作才能解決——這也是當初訂定《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》的原因。
Photo: Pierre-Marie Epiney /Wikimedia Commons 照片:Pierre-Marie Epiney/維基共享資源
該調查的目的不僅是指出這些物種所面臨的危險,而且有助於確定應優先保護的關鍵棲息地區域。報告寫道,近一半被認定為重要的地點現在受到一定程度的保護,但「《保護野生動物遷徙物種公約》所列物種的許多關鍵地點尚未勘測出來」。
如果說還有一線希望的話,那就是一些保育夥伴在保護個別物種方面取得了成功。例如,捕鯨禁令使南大西洋西部的座頭鯨數量從1950年代的450隻增加到2019年的27,000隻,接近捕鯨活動尚未開始時的數量。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
Like people in many other countries, Taiwanese are fond of delicious fried snacks. For example, Spain is known for its churros, and in Taiwan there is a traditional fried dessert made of sticky rice called beh teung guai. The snack consists of sticky rice flour that is mixed with water, kneaded into a dough and shaped into small pieces. Once fried, the sticky rice balls are coated in crushed peanuts and sugar mixture. 世界上有許多國家愛吃炸甜點,台灣也不例外。舉例來說,西班牙有吉拿棒,台灣人則有油炸糯米的點心──白糖粿。作法先將糯米粉和水混合揉成糰,再捏成小塊,炸好後裹上花生糖粉。 knead (v.) 揉(麵糰、黏土),捏;捏製;揉捏形成 Beh teung guai is a traditional snack that has been enjoyed by many senior citizens since
WHEN ARE THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES? The Paris 2024 Olympics will run from Friday to Aug. 11, while the Paris 2024 Paralympics will be held from Aug. 28-Sept. 8. WHERE WILL THE GAMES TAKE PLACE? In September 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Paris the 2024 Games when its only remaining rival, Los Angeles, agreed to wait another four years to be the host city. Paris has hosted two Olympics and will stage the event 100 years after its last Games in 1924. The Games will be staged in 35 venues across Paris, Ile-de-France, on both mainland France and overseas. Some notable venues
A: The 2024 Paris Olympics is set to open tomorrow (Saturday Taiwan time), and will run until Aug. 11. B: How many Taiwanese athletes will compete in the Olympics? A: About 60 Taiwanese athletes will participate in 16 sports. B: I’ve heard some Olympic gold medalists, such as weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun, and badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, will compete in the Olympics again. A: Asian tennis star Hsieh Su-wei, who is the World No. 1 in women’s doubles, is also on the Taiwan team. Let’s give our support to the Taiwanese players. A: 巴黎奧運自7月26日(台灣時間27日),至8月11日要登場啦。 B: 台灣有多少選手參賽? A: 台灣有60名選手參賽,將參加16項運動種類。 B: 這次奧運金牌舉重名將郭婞淳、羽球男雙李洋/王齊麟都會參賽。 A:
You might have seen athletes gracefully bending and leaping in rhythm with melodies. This is “rhythmic gymnastics,” a sport often mistaken for artistic gymnastics. However, the two are distinct in focus and presentation. Artistic gymnastics focuses on strength, flexibility, and balance, with athletes performing solo on various equipment. They are scored based on the difficulty of their movements, their execution of certain skills on each apparatus, and their ability to combine multiple skills into different movements. Rhythmic gymnastics, on the other hand, emphasizes style and presentation, with athletes often performing in teams. Moving in harmony with music, they use