Protected Areas and Endemic Species

The extinction of plant and animal species has become an issue in the news, and the media have gradually become interested in the fate of the most endangered taxa. International organizations, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and others, are making tremendous efforts to safeguard hundreds of species. Their actions have already made it possible to put several dozen out of danger, but the future of the majority remains uncertain. The panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, for example, which is the emblem of the WWF and symbol of the protection of nature, could disappear in the wild before the middle of the twenty-first century despite all the protection efforts. In this case, we are dealing with an animal that is endemic to a restricted Chinese territory, but many other native plant and animal species are also doomed to early extinction in several areas of the world.