New Delhi: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species recently updated its List, highlighting the increased importance of protecting several lizard and cactus species. The Ibiza wall lizard has been reclassified as threatened due to invasive species and other human-caused issues. But do you know the IUCN Red List and its different categories? Let us find out through this article.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also called the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, was established in 1964. It was set up to assess biological species’ global conservation status and extinction risk. Countries and organisations also create Regional Red Lists that assess the risk of extinction for species within a specific political management unit.
The number of species assessed for the Red List has increased. As of 2023, out of 150,388 species surveyed, 42,108 are considered at risk of extinction due to human activity, including overfishing, hunting, and land development.
Goals and aims
The Red List is crucial in influencing national and international policy and decision-making. Its goals include:
Providing scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies globally.
Raising awareness about the significance of threatened biodiversity.
Guiding actions for conserving biological diversity.
The IUCN aims to reevaluate the conservation status of every species at least once every ten years or ideally in every five years. This reevaluation process is carried out through the IUCN Species Survival Commission Specialist Groups (SSC), which are recognised as Red List Authorities (RLA) and are responsible for specific species, groups of species, or particular geographic areas. The Red List unit collaborates with staff from the IUCN Global Species Programme and current programme partners to recommend new partners or networks to join as new Red List Authorities.
Categories
The IUCN Red List categorises species into nine groups based on population decline, size, geographic distribution, and the degree of fragmentation. The focus is on the ability to apply these criteria even without high-quality data as long as there is reasonable support for their application. This includes considering suspicion and potential future threats.
The nine categories are:
Extinct (EX): It is beyond reasonable doubt that the species is no longer extant.
Extinct in the wild (EW): Survival is only possible in captivity, cultivation, or outside its native range, as presumed after extensive surveys.
Critically endangered (CR): In a particularly and extremely critical state.
Endangered (EN): This species is at a very high risk of extinction in the wild and meets any of the criteria A to E for Endangered.
Vulnerable (VU): Meets one of the five Red List criteria and is thus considered at high risk of unnatural (human-caused) extinction without further human intervention.
Near Threatened (NT): Close to being endangered shortly.
Conservation Dependent (CD): The category was removed, and its contents merged into near threatened; the category may still be present for species not evaluated under the current rules.
Least concern (LC): Unlikely to become endangered or extinct shortly.
Data Deficient (DD)
Not evaluated (NE)
In the IUCN Red List, “threatened” includes the categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable.
Criteria
Species are assessed against five criteria based on geographic range, population size, population decline or increase, and extinction probability analyses. These criteria determine which category is most appropriate for the species.
There have been cases where a species previously listed as Extinct on the IUCN Red List has been moved into another category after living individuals are found. These are the so-called “Lazarus” species. The mistake often results in a species becoming extinct after protection and conservation efforts are withdrawn.
Established in 1964, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species has evolved into the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus, and plant species. Let’s dive deep into what it means, its aims, categories and more. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
