On the gently rolling hills of the Analalava Regions of North West Madagascar survives the last stand of a palm on the verge of extinction. The aptly named ‘Suicide Palm’ (Tahina spectabilis) has less than 30 adult plants remaining over a range of less than 4km2.
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If the imminent loss of the Woylie moves you at all, at the very least, you can consider how each and every one of us must power down to give any endangered species a chance of future existence.
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This issue we step down the anthropocentric ladder one full rung to the vertebrate class of Aves. Yes the Orange-bellied Parrot isn’t even a mammal! Our disdain for other life-forms seems to increase the further removed the species is from Homo sapiens on the evolutionary tree or classification table. However, any student of nature will appreciate that the web of life is interdependent on every last cell of biodiversity, and that any notion of hierarchy is human-created nonsense.
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Though comprehensive data is sadly lacking, all evidence available demonstrates this species is in dramatic decline. Some data quote global populations in 35,800 adult females in 2004, a massive decline from the 1982 figure of 115,000. In the Pacific, where numbers have declined the most, estimates are that there has been an 80 – 95% decline in numbers over the last 20 years.
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It’s hard to miss the irony that the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat’s demise and possible salvation have been largely shaped by the agricultural and mining industries. The current tussle between these two, to win the hearts of the public as caring, sharing and environmentally conscious, and their tenacious claims to the natural resources that drive their relentless pursuit of the bottom line, may in the end be a side show to the climatic change that could easily wipe yet another mammal off the face of the Australian Continent.
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As long as modern culture continues to see humans as separate to – and having dominion over – the intricate web of life on earth, the demise of the Murray Cod and many other life forms will render the predictions of a sixth mass extinction event a reality.
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One of the most critically endangered orchids is the Wyong Sun Orchid, named as such for the geographical location, on the Central Coast of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in which it was first discovered and where the only known colonies are found.
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High atop Mt Baishan-zu in eastern China resides one of the world’s most critically endangered coniferous plants, the Baishan fir, of which only seven remain in the wild.
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With only a few hundred plants still in the wild colony, survival is severely impacted by organised poaching for the Japanese or Taiwanese markets. The rarity of the plant, as well as its size, mean locals see it as an item to be harvested for profit with little to no consideration given to its conservation value.
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SHIFT magazine 