The Barcelona Zoo Foundation has taken part in the study “The State of Biodiversity in Spain”, coordinated by the Loro Parque Foundation‘s Macaronesia Species Survival Centre and the Spanish Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature
The study‘s conclusions are published today throughout Spain, to coincide with the International Day for Biological Diversity
Since its creation in 2013, the Barcelona Zoo Foundation has launched over 500 research and conservation projects aimed at fostering biodiversity
In Catalonia, there are 27 critically-endangered species and 84 endangered species. These are some of the conclusions made in The State of Biodiversity in Spain, a study coordinated by the Loro Parque Foundation‘s Macaronesia Species Survival Centre and the Spanish Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in which the Barcelona Zoo Foundation took part.
The report, which is published throughout Spain today, on the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, signifies a leap forward in terms of our real understanding of the risk to many species. The study is based on the worrying diagnosis made by the UICN in its Red List of Endangered Species, which establishes that there are currently 193 critically endangered, 418 endangered and 498 vulnerable species in Spain. Starting with this list, the study has made it possible to unify scientific data and criteria in order to improve available scientific information and harmonise the loss-of-biodiversity indicators used by the various administrations and organisations involved in defending the natural environment. This has made it possible to discover a 65% discordance between the species registered on the National Catalogue of Threatened Species, the data compiled by Spain‘s autonomous communities and the UICN‘s registers.
The Situation in Catalonia
According to The State of Biodiversity in Spain, there are 27 critically endangered species and 84 endangered species in Catalonia. The most endangered taxonomic group is the arthropods, with 33 species, followed by sharks and rays, with 26, and plants, with 14. The critically endangered species in Catalonia include the Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi), the Mediterranean fan mussel (Pinna nobilis) and the European polecat (Mustela putorius).
The study has also identified six hot points for critically endangered species: the Ebro Delta, the Serra del Montsant Natural Park, the Montseny Natural Park and some areas of the Cap de Creus Natural Park and the Alt Pirineu Natural Park.
Barcelona Zoo, committed to biodiversity
In this situation, where biodiversity is suffering a silent extinction, places such as the Barcelona Zoo play a vital role in preventing the disappearance of species on the brink of extinction.
Since its creation in 2013, the Barcelona Zoo Foundation has created multidisciplinary teams, with the aim of planning and carrying out conservation projects, either ex situ or in the environment concerned, as well as global conservation plans aimed at reversing the progressive disappearance of our most endangered native species. Projects like the ones for reintroduction of the Montseny brook newt and the Majorcan midwife toad are good examples of this policy. It carries out this work with the collaboration of the most important research centres in Spain, administrations, NGOs and the scientific community.
As part of The State of Biodiversity in Spain, the Barcelona Zoo Foundation carried out an educational citizen science project using the iNaturalist app. The goal is to raise people‘s awareness and sensitivity, involving them in the collection of data that will be of great use in helping researchers to establish future conservation plans.
Download the complete report here
