MORE than half of the 15,000 species of tree found in the Amazon rain forest are now on the brink of extinction, it has been revealed.
PUBLISHED: 18:54, Fri, Nov 20, 2015 | UPDATED: 19:29, Fri, Nov 20, 2015
The worrying spectre of trees that could hold the secret to the cure of cancer and play host to the richest wildlife spectacular on the planet disappearing in our life times has been highlighted in a new study.
It reveals that between 36 and 57 per cent of Amazonian trees, that is as many as 8,690 different species, are likely to qualify as being globally threatened under IUCN Red List of Threatened Species criteria.
The new study, published tonight in the journal Science Advances, reached its shocking conclusions after comparing results of forest surveys across the Amazon with maps of current and projected deforestation to estimate how many tree species have been lost, and whereabouts.
A global global team made up of 158 researchers from 21 countries and involving Britain’s University of East Anglia (UEA) carried out the study, which also concluded that Amazonian parks, reserves, and indigenous territories, if properly managed, can protect most of the threatened species.
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