IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

For nearly 50 years, the Species Survival Commission has been assessing the conservation status of species, subspecies, and populations on a global scale to highlight those threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation.

SSC remains committed to providing the world with the most objective, scientifically-based information on the current status of global biodiversity. It disseminates this information through the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

As it is not possible to evaluate all known species, SSC is working with partners to cover key taxonomic groups. The Biodiversity Assessment Initiative has been established as a collaborative effort between IUCN/SSC and the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International. It aims to provide an effective method for gathering and disseminating the most accurate scientific data available for biodiversity conservation.

All assessment work carried out under the Biodiversity Assessment Initiative and other SSC programmes feeds into the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The first taxonomic group to have been completely assessed under the Initiative is amphibians (frogs, toads and salamanders). The results of the Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA), released in 2004 to widespread media coverage, were alarming: one in three amphibians face extinction.

2004 news release
GAA website

The work of the GAA set the stage for the next group assessment, the Global Mammal Assessment (GMA) which is being carried out through a collaboration of several organizations, and is due for completion in 2007.

Although a great deal is known about mammalian biology, systematics, distribution patterns, and conservation status, this knowledge is neither uniform nor complete. Moreover, of the more than 5,000 known mammal species, the threat status of more than half of them is insufficiently known or inadequately documented. The GMA’s aim is to consolidate available information for each species on systematics, distribution, habitat requirements, ecology, life history, conservation status, past and existing threats, conservation actions, and population trends.

This collated information will allow conservation scientists to clearly determine interventions to preserve mammalian biodiversity worldwide. For the first time, data will be available to determine the total set of threatened species occurring in a particular region, identify the necessary conservation interventions, and establish a baseline against which the success of conservation actions can be measured and monitored. Thanks to the capacity of SSC’s network of mammal experts, the GMA will be constantly updated.

The Global Marine Species Assessment which began in 2005 will be the first global review of the conservation status of every marine vertebrate species and of selected invertebrates and plants. Led by SSC, the project will involve a range of partners in compiling and analyzing all existing data on around 20,000 species, and determine the risk of extinction according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

Global Marine Species Assessment

Against the rapidly declining status of freshwater habitats and their species, SSC has established a Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment Programme which aims to put in place a factual basis for efforts to conserve and manage freshwater biodiversity.

The Programme is conducting a series of regional assessments of the status and distribution of a number of priority groups of freshwater taxa, beginning in Africa.

Freshwater biodiversity assessment programme

The IUCN Species Programme and SSC are finalizing plans to tackle Target 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). The target calls for a preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional and international levels by 2010. Less than 3% of the world's known plant species have been assessed so far, and the Species Programme is leading a new approach to Red Listing in order to make more rapid progress. Partner organizations are keen to work jointly to achieve the target.

Plant conservation sub-committee

Rising to the global challenge of reducing biodiversity loss by 2010 requires tools to monitor our progress and highlight where we need to focus our conservation efforts.

Red List Indices, or Indicators, will play a vital role in tracking progress towards this target. They have already been produced for birds and mammals, the two groups that have been completely assessed, and chart overall changes in their threat status. The indices are based on the number of species that moved between categories as a result of genuine changes in threat status (excluding moves resulting from improved knowledge or taxonomic changes). The taxonomic coverage of the Red List Indices will be improved in the coming years, largely through the Sampled Red List Index (SRLI). This is being developed based on a sample of species from selected taxonomic groups to provide trends in extinction risk that are more representative of global biodiversity. The information will be critical for guiding decision makers as to what conservation action is necessary.

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