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.
Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90 5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
ICC Intercontinental Cup
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (captain), Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Saqlain Haider, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Naveed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Boota, Amir Hayat, Ashfaq Ahmed
Fixtures Nov 29-Dec 2
UAE v Afghanistan, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Ireland v Scotland, Dubai International Stadium
Namibia v Netherlands, ICC Academy, Dubai
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
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Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
