The
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global
conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
of
biological species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sex ...
. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the
extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of
Regional Red List
A Regional Red List is a report of the threatened status of species within a certain country or region. It is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the conservation status of species on a global scale. Regional Red ...
s are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit.
The aim of the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
the formally stated goals of the Red List are to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity.
Major species assessors include
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
, the
Institute of Zoology The Institute of Zoology (IoZ) is the research division of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in England. It is a government-funded research institute specialising in scientific issues relevant to the conservation of animal species and their hab ...
(the research division of the
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park.
History
On 29 ...
), the
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
The UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is a collaboration centre of UN Environment Programme, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. UNEP-WCMC has been part of UN Environment Programme since 2000, and has ...
, and many Specialist Groups within the
IUCN Species Survival Commission
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natura ...
(SSC). Collectively, assessments by these organizations and groups account for nearly half the species on the Red List.
The IUCN aims to have the category of every species re-evaluated at least every ten years, or every five years if possible. This is done in a
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
ed manner through IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups, which are Red List Authorities responsible for a species, group of species or specific geographic area, or in the case of
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
, an entire class (
Aves
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
).
The number of species which have been assessed for the Red List has been increasing over time. As of 2019, of 105,000 species surveyed, 28,338 are considered at risk of extinction because of human activity, in particular
overfishing,
hunting
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
, and
land development.
History
1964 Red List of Threatened Plants
The 1964 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants used the older pre-criteria Red List assessment system. Plants listed may not, therefore, appear in the current Red List. IUCN advise that it is best to check both the online Red List and the 1997 plants Red List publication.
2006 release
The 2006 Red List, released on 4 May 2006 evaluated 40,168 species as a whole, plus an additional 2,160
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
,
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, aquatic
stocks, and
subpopulation
In statistics, a population is a Set (mathematics), set of similar items or events which is of interest for some question or experiment. A statistical population can be a group of existing objects (e.g. the set of all stars within the Milky Way g ...
s.
2007 release
On 12 September 2007, the
World Conservation Union
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
(IUCN) released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In this release, they have raised their classification of both the
western lowland gorilla
The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Afri ...
(''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') and the
Cross River gorilla
The Cross River gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla diehli'') is a critically endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla''). It was named a new species in 1904 by Paul Matschie, a mammalian taxonomist working at the Humboldt Univer ...
(''Gorilla gorilla diehli'') from
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
to
critically endangered, which is the last category before
extinct in the wild, due to
Ebola virus
''Zaire ebolavirus'', more commonly known as Ebola virus (; EBOV), is one of six known species within the genus ''Ebolavirus''. Four of the six known ebolaviruses, including EBOV, cause a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and ot ...
and
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
, along with other factors.
Russ Mittermeier
Russell Alan Mittermeier (born November 8, 1949) is a primatologist and herpetologist. He has written several books for both popular and scientist audiences, and has authored more than 300 scientific papers.
Biography
Russell A. Mittermeier is ...
, chief of
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
-based IUCN's Primate Specialist Group, stated that 16,306 species are endangered with extinction, 188 more than in 2006 (total of 41,415 species on the Red List). The Red List includes the
Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') in the Critically Endangered category and the
Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') in the Endangered category.
2008 release
The 2008 Red List was released on 6 October 2008 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and "confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four
ammalsat risk of disappearing forever". The study shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth are known to be threatened with extinction, and 836 are listed as
Data Deficient.
2012 release
The Red List of 2012 was released 19 July 2012 at
Rio+20 Earth Summit;
nearly 2,000 species were added,
with 4 species to the extinct list, 2 to the rediscovered list.
The IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species which revealed 19,817 are threatened with extinction.
3,947 were described as "critically endangered" and 5,766 as "endangered", while more than 10,000 species are listed as "vulnerable". At threat are 41% of amphibian species, 33% of reef-building corals, 30% of conifers, 25% of mammals, and 13% of birds.
The IUCN Red List has listed 132 species of plants and animals from India as "Critically Endangered".
Categories
Species are classified by the IUCN Red List into nine groups, specified through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.
There is an emphasis on the acceptability of applying any criteria in the absence of high quality data including suspicion and potential future threats, "so long as these can reasonably be supported".
*
Extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
(EX) – beyond reasonable doubt that the species is no longer extant.
*
Extinct in the wild (EW) – survives only in captivity, cultivation and/or outside native range, as presumed after exhaustive surveys.
*
Critically endangered (CR) – in a particularly and extremely critical state.
*
Endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
(EN) – very high risk of extinction in the wild, meets any of criteria A to E for Endangered.
*
Vulnerable (VU) – meets one of the 5 Red List criteria and thus considered to be at high risk of unnatural (human-caused) extinction without further human intervention.
*
Near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
(NT) – close to being endangered in the near future.
*
Least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
(LC) – unlikely to become endangered or extinct in the near future.
*
Data deficient (DD)
*
Not evaluated
A not evaluated (NE) species is one which has been categorized under the IUCN Red List of threatened species as not yet having been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This conservation category is one of nine IUCN th ...
(NE)
In the IUCN Red List, "
threatened
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...
" embraces the categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.
1994 categories and 2001 framework
The older 1994 list has only a single "Lower Risk" category which contained three subcategories:
*
Conservation Dependent
A conservation-dependent species is a species which has been categorised as "Conservation Dependent" ("LR/cd") by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), i.e. as dependent on conservation efforts to prevent it from becoming e ...
(LR/cd)
*
Near Threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
(LR/nt)
*
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
(LR/lc)
In the 2001 framework, ''Near Threatened'' and ''Least Concern'' became their own categories, while ''Conservation Dependent'' was removed and its contents merged into ''Near Threatened''.
Possibly extinct
The tag of "possibly extinct" (PE) is used by
Birdlife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
, the Red List Authority for birds for the IUCN Red List. BirdLife International has recommended PE become an official tag for Critically Endangered species, and this has now been adopted, along with a "Possibly Extinct in the Wild" tag for species with populations surviving in captivity but likely to be extinct in the wild.
Versions
![Sizes of Red List Categories](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Sizes_of_Red_List_Categories.png)
There have been a number of versions, dating from 1991, including:
* Version 1.0 (1991)
* Version 2.0 (1992)
* Version 2.1 (1993)
* Version 2.2 (1994)
* Version 2.3 (1994)
* Version 3.0 (1999)
* Version 3.1 (2001)
All new IUCN assessments since 2001 have used version 3.1 of the categories and criteria.
Criticism
![Status iucn2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Status_iucn2.3.svg)
In 1997, the IUCN Red List received criticism on the grounds of secrecy (or at least poor documentation) surrounding the sources of its data. These allegations have led to efforts by the IUCN to improve its documentation and data quality, and to include peer reviews of taxa on the Red List.
The list is also open to petitions against its classifications, on the basis of documentation or criteria.
In the November 2002 issue of
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short period.
Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short- ...
, an article suggested that the IUCN Red List and similar works are prone to misuse by governments and other groups that draw possibly inappropriate conclusions on the state of the environment or to affect
exploitation of natural resources
The exploitation of natural resources is the use of natural resources for economic growth, sometimes with a negative connotation of accompanying environmental degradation. It started to emerge on an industrial scale in the 19th century as the e ...
.
In the November 2016 issue of
Science Advances
''Science Advances'' is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary open-access scientific journal established in early 2015 and published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The journal's scope includes all areas of science, incl ...
, a research article claims there are serious inconsistencies in the way species are classified by the IUCN. The researchers contend that the IUCN's process of categorization is "out-dated, and leaves room for improvement", and further emphasize the importance of readily available and easy-to-include geospatial data, such as satellite and aerial imaging. Their conclusion questioned not only the IUCN's method but also the validity of where certain species fall on the List. They believe that combining geographical data can significantly increase the number of species that need to be reclassified to a higher risk category.
See also
*
CITES
CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...
*
Conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
*
Red List Index
Summary of 2006 IUCN Red List categories.
The ''Red List Index (RLI)'', based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is an indicator of the changing state of global biodiversity. It defines the conservation status of major species groups, ...
*
Regional Red List
A Regional Red List is a report of the threatened status of species within a certain country or region. It is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the conservation status of species on a global scale. Regional Red ...
*
Species by IUCN Red List category
*
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...
Citations
General and cited references
* Hilton-Taylor, C
A history of the IUCN DATA Book and Redlist Retrieved 2012-5-11.
*
* IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2009
Summary Statistics Retrieved 2009-12-19.
* IUCN
1994 IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria version 2.3 Retrieved 2009-12-19.
* IUCN
2001 IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria version 3.1 Retrieved 2009-12-19.
* Rodrigues, A. S. L., Pilgrim, J.D., Lamoreux, J.F., Hoffmann, M. & Brooks, T.M. 2006
The value of the IUCN Red List for conservationTrends in Ecology & Evolution 21(2): 71–76.
* Sharrock, S. and Jones, M. 2009
Conserving Europe's threatened plants– Report on the lack of a European Red List and the creation of a consolidated list of the threatened plants of Europe. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iucn Red List
1964 in the environment
Biological databases
Biota by conservation status system
.
.Red List
Lists of biota
Species described in 1963