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International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and
extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
risk of
biological species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of classification an ...
. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations. The 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 i ...
, the Institute of Zoology (the research division of the Zoological Society of London), the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and many Specialist Groups within the IUCN Species Survival Commission (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, and 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 (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...
ed manner through IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups (SSC), which are Red List Authorities (RLA) responsible for a species, group of species or specific geographic area, or in the case of BirdLife International, an entire class ( Aves). The red list unit works with staff from the IUCN Global Species Programme as well as current program partners to recommend new partners or networks to join as new Red List Authorities. The number of species which have been assessed for the Red List has been increasing over time. of 150,388 species surveyed, 42,108 are considered at risk of extinction because of human activity, in particular
overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...
,
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
, and land development.


History

The idea for a Red Data Book was suggested by Peter Scott in 1963.


1966–1977 Red Data Lists

Initially the Red Data Lists were designed for specialists and were issued in a loose-leaf format that could be easily changed. The first two volumes of Red Lists were published in 1966 by conservationist Noel Simon, one for mammals and one for birds. The third volume that appeared covered reptiles and amphibians. It was created by René E. Honegger in 1968. In 1970, the IUCN published volume 5 in this series. This was the first Red Data List which focused on plants ( angiosperms only), compiled by Ronald Melville. The final volume created in the loose leaf style was volume 4 on freshwater fishes. This was published in 1979 by Robert Rush Miller.


1969 Red Data Book

The first attempt to create a Red Data Book for a nonspecialist public came in 1969 with ''The Red Book: Wildlife in Danger''. This book covered varies groups but was predominantly about mammals and birds, with smaller sections on reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and plants.


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 Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
, varieties, aquatic
stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...
, and subpopulations.


2007 release

On 12 September 2007, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) released the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In this release, they have raised their classification of both the western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') and the Cross River gorilla (''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, inv ...
to
critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
, which is the last category before extinct in the wild, due to Ebola virus and
poaching Poaching is 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 against the huntin ...
, along with other factors. Russ Mittermeier, chief of
Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...
-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 The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is an orangutan species endemic to the island of Borneo. It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia and is the largest of the three ''Pongo'' species. It has a coarse, reddish coat and up ...
(''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 northeastern coast of 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 c ...
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 an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce 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 An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
(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, inv ...
(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 Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...
(NT) – close to being endangered in the near future. *
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
(LC) – widespread and abundant in the wild. * Data Deficient (DD) – inadequate information to assess extinction risk. * Not Evaluated (NE) – has not yet been assessed. In the IUCN Red List, " threatened" 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 (LR/cd) *
Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...
(LR/nt) *
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
(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 i ...
, 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

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

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'', 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. 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. Hist ...
'', 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 acronym 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 inte ...
*
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 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, and measures trends in extinction risk ...
* Regional Red List * 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. Trends 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