Fewer Than 100 Trees Left of Some Species
8/30/98
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Fewer Than 100 Trees Left of Some Species
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 8/30/98
Byline: Geir Moulson
GENEVA _ One-tenth of the world's known species of trees are in danger
of extinction, with some species already reduced to fewer than 100
trees left, according to a study published Tuesday.
Many of the trees have been threatened by deforestation caused by farming
and the expansion of human settlements. Grazing and forest fires have
reduced the number of other species, according to the 3-year study by the
World Wildlife Fund and two other conservation groups.
Fewer than one in four of the trees in danger benefit from protection
efforts, according to the 650-page ``World List of Threatened Trees''
report, which was financed by the Dutch government.
According to the study, 8,753 of the world's estimated 80,000 to 100,000
tree species are vulnerable. Of those, 1,000 were classed as ``critically
endangered,'' reduced to just dozens of specimens.
``It's scary, there's no other word for it,'' said Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud,
the head of WWF's forest program.
The organizations warned that species are being eliminated that haven't
yet been investigated scientifically.
``Forest destruction is the key threat to species worldwide,'' said
Mark Collins of the World Conservation Monitoring Center, which compiled
the report.
The report was released at the start in Geneva of a U.N. forum on forests,
at which government delegations will discuss measures to slow down
deforestation.
Among the most threatened trees listed in the report are three species of
which only one specimen is known to remain, all due to loss of their
natural habitat.
A group of four Hibiscus clayi trees in Hawaii's Nounou mountains appears
to be the only remaining population of that species, the study said. It
cited invasive plants as one threat.
More than 1,000 species are threatened as a result of felling, the study
said. Farming and expansion of human settlement threaten some 900 and 750
species respectively, while grazing and uncontrolled forest fires were
cited as other major threats.