In the last 25 years, humanity has spent more money for the protection of elephants than for the preservation of any other animals or plants.
The researchers from Italy and China came to this conclusion, following a study published in the PNAS magazine.
They analyzed information on over 14,000 nature preservation projects between 1992 and 2016. It was found that 82.9% of all funds, ie $ 1.6 billion, were allocated for vertebrate protection.
For comparison, invertebrates and plants have returned to only 6.6% of funds each ($ 129 million), and mushrooms and algae-and less. Their quotas were below 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.
Most of the preservation financing was intended for mammals and birds – between 70 and 85% of the total, in different years. The most active were protected large and “charismatic” animals, such as primates, rhinos, elephants, citadels and predators.
However, only one third of the big species that people are trying to save are truly endangered. On the other hand, rodents, bats and insectivores need protection, but the projects dedicated to them are poorly funded. A similar situation is observed in the case of reptiles and insects.
Bees receive 38.4% of total funds for insects. Another 28% are allocated to butterflies, and 25.7% – big gangs. In contrast, orthoptera and dragonflies, which represent almost half of the vulnerable insect species, receive only 2.4% of the funding.
In total, in this quarter of a century, humanity tried to save 2,335 species, of which 1,505 are in imminent endanger of disappearance. 57% of the preservation projects concerned the protection of a certain species, and from the funds raised by these initiatives, 39% were directed to only 47 species. Of these, 10 are not, in fact, threatened with disappearance.
For the preservation of Asian elephants, $ 38.3 million have been spent in 25 years, and for African elephants-$ 29.3 million.
