"U.N. Species Convention Seen Needing Urgent Reform"

"Poor data, minimal funding and lax enforcement are undermining the fight to protect endangered species, raising the risks from the spread of pests and diseases, scientists say in a study made public on Friday.

Destruction of habitats, over-hunting and climate change have already driven the extinction rate for plants and animals to the highest level since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, the United Nations says.

More than a fifth of all mammals and nearly a third of all amphibians are threatened and at risk of extinction, the International Union for Conservation of Nature's benchmark Red List of Threatened Species says.

The new study, conducted by scientists from the National University of Singapore and Britain's Oxford Brookes University, said the main U.N. convention governing trade in endangered species needed urgent reform and a boost in support from member states."

David Fogarty reports for Reuters December 24, 2010.