About 30 per cent of the species on a conservation watch list are at risk of extinction, conservationists say.
As they updated a red list of species most at risk, they published for the first time a green list of species that could offer hope to conservation efforts around the world.
Habitat loss, overexploitation and illegal trade continue to be the main threats to species, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature said.
Of the 138,374 species assessed by the group for its survival watch list, about 28 per cent are at high risk of vanishing for ever, it said on Saturday.
Shark and ray populations have declined since they were last assessed and more species are now threatened with extinction, the group said in its revised Red List of Threatened Species, published on Saturday.
But IUCN director general Bruno Oberle said the trend could be reversed and this year’s assessment offered cause for optimism.
“The newest assessment of these species brings us a bit of hope,” he said.
“Some of these species are recovering, slowly. Others are still threatened. But it is the demonstration that if states and other actors take the right actions on a [timetable] that is long enough, it is possible to recover.”
Fishing quotas have allowed several tuna species to set out on “the path to recovery”, the World Conservation Congress in Marseille was told.
The IUCN's new "green status" will act as a companion to the survival watch list and measures how species fight back towards historical population levels.
The initiative aims “to measure species recoveries in a standardised way, which has never been done before”, said green status co-chief Prof Molly Grace.
It was born of a realisation that “preventing extinction alone is not enough”, said Prof Grace, from the University of Oxford.
More than 180 species have undergone green status assessments so far and the IUCN hopes to one day match the tens of thousands on the red list.
They are classified on a sliding scale, from “fully recovered” through “slightly depleted”, “moderately depleted”, “largely depleted” and “critically depleted”.
When all else has failed, the final listing is “extinct in the wild".
The California condor has been classified as critically endangered for the past three decades, despite major investment in its preservation.
“Some people might think, 'We've been trying to conserve the condor for 30 years, its red list status has been critically endangered for all those 30 years, what is conservation actually doing for this species?'" Prof Grace said.
But her team found the California condor would be extinct in the wild had it not been for these conservation efforts, she said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
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On sale: Available to order now
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
England-South Africa Test series
1st Test England win by 211 runs at Lord's, London
2nd Test South Africa win by 340 runs at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3rd Test July 27-31 at The Oval, London
4th Test August 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester
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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
