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NEWS ADVANCE
Launch of the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
The most authoritative global assessment of species loss is released
Gland, 12 September, 2000 (IUCN) - The 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - the most authoritative and comprehensive assessment ever produced of the status of the world's plants and animals - is about to be released.
The Red List, a flagship product of IUCN - The World Conservation Union, is compiled by the Species Survival Commission (SSC) - some 7,000 volunteer species experts working in almost every country in the world. It has produced some alarming new facts about the decline of the world's species including the number of known extinctions that have taken place. The Red List reveals the countries with the most threatened species, identifies the habitats that have the most threatened mammals and birds, and highlights the most significant threats.
Over 18,000 species of animals and plants are included in the Red List according to their risk of extinction. A species is classified as threatened if it meets strict scientific criteria for inclusion in one of three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Over 4,000 species included in the Red List will soon move into the threatened categories unless urgent action is taken to stop their rapid population declines.
For the first time, the 2000 Red List is being produced on CD-ROM. The Analysis has been published as a booklet, and the entire "searchable" Red List is housed on a designated website that will be accessible from the launch day. This is also the first time that all animal and plant assessments have been combined in a single list.
Release of the 2000 Red List comes a week before the Second World Conservation Congress in Amman, Jordan, where IUCN members gather to discuss global conservation policy for the next four years, including ways of addressing the growing extinction crisis.
Much is reported about the decline of the world's biodiversity but the Red List quantifies human impact on the natural environment and gives greater insight into the processes driving extinction.
Full details of the launch, including press kits, will be posted here shortly.
For more information please contact the Species Survival Commission
Tel: +41 22 9990001
Fax: +41 22 9990015
Email: alk@iucn.org.
IUCN - The World Conservation Union was founded in 1948 and brings together 78 states, 112 government agencies, 735 NGOs, 35 affiliates, and some 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries in a unique worldwide partnership. Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. Within the framework of global conventions IUCN has helped over 75 countries to prepare and implement national conservation and biodiversity strategies. IUCN has approximately 1000 staff, most of whom are located in its 42 regional and country offices while 100 work at its Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.
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