There are 51,000 living species of flora and fauna in historical Palestine, constituting around three per cent of global biodiversity, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) has revealed.
Marking International Day for Biological Diversity, the PCBS said there are an estimated 30,848 animal species, consisting of an estimated 30,000 invertebrates, 373 birds, 297 fish, 92 mammals, 81 reptiles and five amphibians.
According to the paper, there are about 2,750 species of plants in historic Palestine, of which 261 are endemic to Palestine and 53 are special to Palestine.
However, in the occupied territories, there are about 2,076 plant species, of which 90 species are threatened with extinction and 636 species are recorded as very rare.
The paper stated that the continuous Israeli occupation is threatening biodiversity in Palestine, as it continues the theft of land, natural resources, building illegal settlements on green spaces and natural reserves and the construction of bypass roads.
It also said that the consequences of building the illegal Separation Wall in the occupied West Bank, including bulldozing forest lands, logging and fragmentation dispersal of wildlife population.
The occupation’s practices, it added, have led to many species being placed on the endangered list.
READ: Number of female Palestine prisoners in Israeli jails rises to 34