St of saving endangered species £50bn a year, say experts. The endangered Indian greater one-horned rhino Spending on conservation projects must rise by "an order of magnitude" if governments are to meet their pledges to manage protected areas and halt the spectacular rate of extinctions caused by human activity.
A stark assessment from an international collaboration of conservation groups and universities reveals the enormous shortfall in funds required to save species, and warns that costs are likely to increase, the longer action is delayed. To reduce the risk of extinction for all threatened species would cost up to $4.76bn (£2.97bn) every year, they say, with a further $76.1bn (£47.4bn) required annually to establish and manage protected areas for species known to be at risk from habitat loss, hunting and other human activities.
"These seem enormous figures to us as individuals, but in terms of government budgets they are trivial," said Stuart Butchart, the global research co-ordinator at BirdLife International in Cambridge.
Discoveries. Mollusca. Amphibia. Aves. Arthropods. Fish/Sharks. Mammalia. Reptilia. Mustelids. Ursids. Canids.