Third of Swiss bird species are endangered
Biodiversity is worse in Switzerland than abroad, with over a third of the native species examined endangered, warns the nature conservation organisation Birdlife ahead of Wednesday’s International Biodiversity Day.
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This corresponds to around 3,800 species, as data from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) from 2022 shows. Of the approximately 56,000 species living in Switzerland, almost 11,000 were examined.
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The proportion of threatened species is higher in Switzerland than in many other countries, Birdlife announced on Tuesday, based on an analysis by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with data from 2023. There are two million species worldwide threatened, which corresponds to almost a fifth of all species on earth.
The reason for the biodiversity crisis in Switzerland is the lack of areas on which ecologically valuable habitats are preserved, promoted and maintained. According to Birdlife, there is great potential in Switzerland to promote the protection of biodiversity.
International Biodiversity Day will begin with the Festival of Nature 2024 on Wednesday. Around 750 events on nature and biodiversity will take place across the country from May 22 to 26. The main topics of the festival, which is being held for the eighth time, are settlement biodiversity and ecological infrastructure.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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