The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has brought together national red lists from around the world for the first time in one location. From the cliff tiger beetle in the United Kingdom (classified as ‘rare’) to the Asian elephant in Sir Lanka (considered ‘vulnerable’) the website National Red Lists brings together data on over 50,000 species from 40 countries.
While the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has long provided a global assessment of species’ endangerment status, many nations have also created their own lists in order to identify regionally threatened species. In its comprehensive new site, ZSL intends to highlight every species assessment undertaken with hopes that bringing this information together in one easy-to-use place will aid conservationists, biologists, and policy makers in protecting biodiversity both globally and locally.
Additionally the website includes data on the scientists who assessed the species and, where available, on action plans for the species in question.
For scientists and conservationists with knowledge regarding other assessments, the website provides a place to submit new information on species.
ZSL is planning an official launch of the website on June 18th.
Related articles
Another milestone in Afghanistan: listing of endangered species
(06/08/2009) Thirty-three species are included in Afghanistan’s first-ever listing of protected wildlife. Well-known animals like the snow leopard, wolves, and brown bears received full legal protection from hunting and harvesting alongside lesser-known species like the paghman salamander, goitered gazelle, and Himalayan elm tree. The protected species list consists of twenty mammals, seven birds, four plants, one amphibian, and one insect.
Updated Red-List: 192 birds are Critically-Endangered
(05/14/2009) In this year’s updated IUCN Red List on birds, six species were down-listed from Critically Endangered to Endangered, but eight species were up-listed to Critically Endangered, leading to the highest number of Critically Endangered birds ever on the list. In all 1,227 bird species (12 percent) are currently considered threatened with global extinction.
One third of US birds endangered
(03/19/2009) Ken Salazar, the nation’s new Secretary of the Interior, today released the first comprehensive report on bird populations in the United States. The findings are not encouraging: nearly one third of United States’ 800 bird species are endangered with even once common species showing precipitous declines. Habitat loss and invasive species are blamed as the largest contributors to bird declines.
Credits
