By 2020, the U.S. Endangered Species Act listed roughly 1,300 species as either endangered or threatened, according to figures cited by Colcom Foundation. A year later, in 2021, regulators proposed delisting 23 species for a grim reason: they had already gone extinct.
A Widening List of Threatened Species
Colcom Foundation draws on Center for American Progress research to show that a majority of species the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies as threatened or near threatened are experiencing ongoing population declines rather than recoveries. The foundation treats that trend as evidence that current conservation measures, however well funded, have not kept pace with the pressures driving species toward the endangered list in the first place.
North American bird populations offer one of the clearest examples, falling from about 10 billion to 7 billion since 1970, a loss of 2.9 billion birds. Broader wildlife populations have followed a similar arc, with wild vertebrate animal numbers roughly halving over the same period that the human population doubled.
Colcom Foundation connects these figures directly to habitat loss driven by continued development and land conversion. The foundation’s research argues that species protections and conservation funding, while necessary, address only part of the underlying pressure. Without slowing the pace of population growth, the foundation contends, the number of species added to the endangered list each year is likely to keep climbing rather than leveling off.
The foundation points to land conversion data as supporting evidence, noting that over 187,000 square miles of U.S. territory had been built over by 2020, an increase of 31,000 square miles since 2000 alone. Colcom Foundation treats that expanding footprint as the physical mechanism behind rising extinction pressure, one that grows in step with the population driving demand for new housing and infrastructure.
Looking at the fifty-year arc as a whole, Colcom Foundation argues that species listings function as a lagging indicator, reflecting habitat pressure that built up years or even decades earlier. That framing, the foundation contends, means today’s endangered species count offers a preview of outcomes still working their way through ecosystems shaped by past growth. Read this article for additional information.
Find more information about Colcom Foundation on https://www.privateequityinternational.com/institution-profiles/colcom-foundation.html