Brussels 'red alert' over the extinction of Europe's butterflies

Mar 17, 2010, 0:35 GMT

Brussels - Almost 10 per cent of European butterfly species are at risk of extinction, the European Commission warned Tuesday, as it updated its 'red alert' list of endangered plant and animals.

The EU's executive body said that out of 435 butterfly species found in Europe 'nearly a third' had declining populations and 9 per cent 'are already threatened with extinction.'

The commission cited the Large White Butterfly from the Portuguese Pacific island of Madeira, which has not been spotted for at least 20 years.

Experts say the development - linked to climate change and habitat loss - may have very serious consequences for the environment.

'Butterflies, for example, play a hugely pivotal role as pollinators in the ecosystems in which they live,' said the director of the Biodiversity Conservation Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN is a network of government and non-governmental- organizations (NGOs) experts tasked with compiling a global list of endangered species.

The commission publishes a parallel list - drawn up using IUCN standards - limited to European territory. In its latest update, the EU executive also said that 11 per cent of beetles that feed on decaying wood and 14 per cent of dragonflies are at risk of extinction.

'When a red list like this raises the alarm, the implications for our ecosystems and for our own future are clear. This is a worrying decline,' said the EU's environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik.