The third Red Book of Moldova was launched in Chisinau on February 11. The book contains over 400 species of plants and animals ,75 species of which were earlier considered rare, but now are on the verge of extinction, IPN reports.
The current edition has new chapters about rare species of algae and mushrooms. The book includes such species of plants as snowdrops, houseleek, cockscomb, white and common alder, white water lily and forest peony. Among the rare fauna species are such fish as huck (salmo hucho) and sturgeon, such birds as the big egret, common and curly pelicans and crested and singing swans, and such animals as gopher, marten, mink, polecat and wild cat.
President of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Gheorghe Duca considers the third Red Book must become the book of the year as it represents a call for conservation of the nature and should be thus found in each library. “The students and teachers need this book first of all. It is a book that cultivates a correct attitude to the environment,” he stated.
Minister of Education Corina Fusu said the ecological education and protection of the environment present priorities. That’s why an optional course on ecological education was introduced last September. Thirty-four copies of the third Red Book will be distributed to the university libraries.
The third Red Book was compiled by the effort of over 60 researches. It is bilingual, in Romanian and Russian. The first edition of the book, issued in 1976, contained about 50 species of plants and animals close to extinction. The second book, released in 2001, included 126 species of plants and 116 species of animals.
