Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment announced the completion of phase one of the UAE National Red List project, which provides updated information on the conservation status and distribution of flora and fauna in the country.
Phase one involved assessment of marine and terrestrial mammals, as well as herpetofauna: amphibians and terrestrial reptiles, sea snakes and marine turtles.
The list indicated that the UAE is home to 78 species of mammals, of those 59 are terrestrial and 19 marine.
Moreover, the red list index for the mammals of the UAE saw a 2.97 per cent decrease in regional extinction risk between 1996 and 2018. As for herpetofauna, the red list index scored is 0.92.
This score indicates that the herpetofauna are much less threatened than mammals, both globally and in the UAE.
The decrease is attributed to the ongoing expansion of protected areas and reintroduction programmes for threatened animal species, according to WAM.
Phase two of the project will include assessment of indigenous bird and plant species. The public can access the list via the MOCCAE website, www.moccae.gov.ae