Species | IUCN

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Key numbers on species

Assessed

91,523

species on the Red List

Threatened

25,821

species threatened with extinction

Target

160,000

species which the IUCN Red List aims to assess by 2020

How we engage

Species are critical for a healthy planet, but a growing human population is placing them under enormous pressure. Habitat destruction, invasive species, overexploitation, illegal wildlife trade, pollution and climate change are threatening the survival of species worldwide.

IUCN is at the forefront of the global fight to save species from extinction. Its Species Survival Commission has 6000+ members, within 130 Specialist Groups. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ is used to guide decision making and conservation action. IUCN provides technical expertise for conservation issues and projects.

Photo: IUCN / Ismail Mohammed

IUCN advises in-danger status for Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago World Heritage site
18.06.2018
Uncontrolled development, unsustainable fisheries and invasive species threaten Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which recommends placing the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Photo: Nicole Duplaix

Southeast Asia's appetite for pet otters supplied online
08.06.2018
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8th June 2018—The online pet trade has emerged as a pressing threat to otters in Southeast Asia with a new TRAFFIC-IUCN Otter Specialist Group (OSG) study revealing hundreds of the animals for sale on Facebook and other websites over a...
Photo: IUCN

France to host IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020
18.05.2018
Marseille, France – The French Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, today signed an agreement to jointly organise the next IUCN World Conservation Congress, to be held in 2020 in...