MELANIE BILZ – Programme Officer IUCN – Freshwater Biodiversity Unit – Species Programme Red List Unit
1) What are your functions and main activities in IUCN Species Programme?
My main responsibilities are to collect information on European and Mediterranean plant species, their distribution, populations, habitat requirements, potential and actual threats, and conservation measures that are in place or needed. Once this information has been collected, we use the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria to determine whether a species is threatened with extinction. For this work, I am networking with experts from the regions. So my day-to-day work is divided between communicating with experts and processing data.
2) Could you give us more details about the project to assess the conservation status on aquatic plant species in the Mediterranean in collaboration with Tour du Valat?
The aim of the project was to determine how threatened aquatic plants are in the Mediterranean region. We know that wetland habitats are undergoing severe declines and we wanted to know how this affects plant species and what are the main causes for declines. A list of 473 plant species was identified, mainly occurring in North Africa and the western European Mediterranean. Of those, 150 are endemic to the Mediterranean region. Our results showed that 73 out of 473 aquatic plant species are threatened with extinction of which 15 are Critically Endangered. Among those are Armeria helodes, an Italian endemic with less than 50 individual plants left in the wild, or Lotus benoistii, a Moroccan endemic with a range of less than 3 km². One species, Laurembergia tetrandra, has become extinct in the region due to water extraction and fires. A further 58 aquatic plant species are classed as Near Threatened. The list of species was not comprehensive for the Mediterranean and there is more work to be done in the eastern part of its range, especially in countries as rich in biodiversity as Turkey and Greece.
3) What are the main threats regarding aquatic plant species?
Habitat loss and degradation are the main threats to the species in the Mediterranean. The construction of housing or tourism infrastructure, and the conversion of wetlands into agricultural land lead to direct habitat loss. This is often accompanied by drainage of wetlands which especially affects temporary pool habitats. Tourism has a big affect on coastal wetlands, not only due to the construction of hotels, but also due to recreational activities and a higher demand for water to accommodate the needs of visitors. Increased droughts as a result of climate change are a further threat to aquatic plants which will become more serious in the future and increase the demand for water and the pressure on wetlands.
4) Are there urgent actions to implement in order to better conserve species?
A range of actions is needed to stop the declines. Water management related to over-extraction for agriculture and human consumption should be improved. And this is a point where we as individuals can help by using water carefully. Wetlands need protection and adequate management that should go hand in hand with raising awareness on the importance of freshwater ecosystems and the services they provide. The adequate management of wetlands is furthermore important to adapt to climate change impacts. Last but not least, more research and fieldwork are needed to improve our understanding of wetland ecosystems and the species inhabiting them.
Each species assessment has information on the conservation actions that are in place or urgently needed which can be used as guidance for specific actions.
5) What is this “new approach” to red listing in order to make more rapid progress?
The Rapid List Tool was created to preliminary assess the threat status of species and is closely related to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. A set of basic questions classifies species into three categories: Likely Threatened, Likely Not Threatened and Likely Data Deficient. It was developed to facilitate the fulfilment of target 2 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation under the Convention on Biological Diversity: “A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional, and international levels”. The advantage is that for big species groups and limited resources, the preliminary assessments can help to prioritise which species should undergo a thorough Red List assessment to determine their risk of extinction. The Rapid List Tool is publicly available online (http://rapidlist.iucnsis.org [1]).
6) Do you want to add something concerning Mediterranean species in general or something else?
Assessing a species’ risk of extinction is a big task and we could not do this without all the voluntary experts that are passionate about plants and dedicate their spare time providing us with the information. The Mediterranean experts made this work a success.