The International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental
organisation. Founded in 1948, today IUCN the largest professional global
conservation network. IUCN has more than 1,200 member organizations including
200+ government and 900+ non-government organizations. The Union’s
headquarters are located in Gland, near Geneva, in Switzerland.
1. Science – the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™.
2. Action – hundreds of conservation projects all over the world.
3. Influence – through the collective strength of more than 1,200
government and non-governmental Member organizations.
Functions of IUCN:
1. Monitoring the
state of world’s life forms through IUCN-Red List of threatened forms.
2. Giving policy advice
and technical support to Governments, UNO organisations, international
conventions and others.
3. Drafting rules and
strategies to maintain environmental equilibrium, and giving legal sanctions
and authority to those rules.
4. Assessing all new
sites nominated for Natural World Heritage listing and protecting the existing
sites.
IUCN Red Data Book
: Threatened Species classification
IUCN maintains “Red Data Base”, at the world Conservation Monitoring Centre
in which information on endangered and vulnerable species of plants and animals
is available. This data is translated into popular form and published, every 4
years, as “Red Data Book”.Many countries also publish ‘Red Data Books’ of their
localities, to keep people and other concerned aware about the endangered species.
Red Data Book
provide information on classification, locations, conditions and number of life
forms which are in endangered category in given local area or world over
Threatened species are any species which are vulnerable to extinction in
the near future. International Union for Conservation of Nature treats
threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three
categories: extinct, vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered,
depending on the degree to which they are threatened.
Extinct Species
(EX):
A toxon or
species is said to be extinct, when the last individual of the taxon has
completely disappeared from that habitat. Extinction therefore becomes a
certainty when there are no surviving individuals that are able to reproduce
and create a new generation.
Species with small population size and low
reproductive rates are likely to become extinct soon.
These species are
not available in wild conditions or in their natural habitat but are available
in captive conditions like Botanical gardens or Zoos. However, if a taxon is
present in a cultivated state of a protected area only such taxon is referred
to as extinct in wild state. Eg., Indian Chetah.
Critically
Endangered (CN)
Critically
Endangered (CN) is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN for wild
species. Critically endangered species means a species numbers have decreased,
or will decrease by 80% within three generations. It is therefore considered to
be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Ex: Nepenthes
khasiana, Indian Rhinoceros, Taxus baccata
Endangered
(EN) species
These are species
with small total population sizes in the world. Endangered (EN) species is a
population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is
either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation
parameters. Also it could mean that due to deforestation there may be a lack of
food and/or water. It is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of
extinction in the wild. Eg: Susseria obvallata (Brahma kamalam – a rare
plant in western Himalayas).
Vulnerable
(VU) species
Vulnerable (VU) species is a species which has been categorised by
the IUCN as likely to become endangered unless the circumstances threatening
its survival and reproduction improve. It is therefore considered to be facing
a high risk of extinction in the wild. Eg., Cycas beddomii
Near Threatened (NT): species
These species have little threat. But if failed to protect and
conserve they are likely to disappear in near future.
Least Concerned (LC): species
These are species not subjected to any danger in near future and
are safe for sometime to come.
The IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health
of the world’s biodiversity. Far more than a list of
species and their status, it is a powerful tool to inform and
catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting
the natural resources we need to survive. It provides information about range,
population size, habitat and ecology, use and/or trade, threats, and
conservation actions that will help inform necessary conservation decisions.
The IUCN Red List is used by government agencies,
wildlife departments, conservation-related non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), natural resource planners, educational organisations, students, and the
business community. The Red List process has become a massive enterprise
involving the IUCN Global Species Program staff, partner organisations and
experts in the IUCN Species Survival Commission and partner networks who
compile the species information to make The IUCN Red List the
indispensable product it is today.
To date, many species groups including mammals,
amphibians, birds, reef building corals and conifers have been comprehensively
assessed. As well as assessing newly recognized species, the IUCN Red List also
re-assesses the status of some existing species, sometimes with positive
stories to tell. For example, good news such as the downlisting (i.e.
improvement) of a number of species on the IUCN Red List categories scale, due
to conservation efforts. The bad news, however, is that biodiversity is declining.
Currently, there
are more than 120,000 species on The IUCN Red List, with more than 32,000
species threatened with extinction,
including 41% of amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 26%
of mammals and 14% of birds.
Despite the high proportions of threatened species, we
are working to reverse, or at least halt, the decline in biodiversity.
Increased assessments will help to build The IUCN Red List into a more complete
‘Barometer of Life’.
To do this we need to increase the number of species assessed to at least
160,000 by the end of 2020. This will improve the global taxonomic coverage and
thus provide a stronger base to enable better conservation and policy
decisions. The IUCN Red List is crucial not only for helping to identify those
species needing targeted recovery efforts, but also for focusing the
conservation agenda by identifying the key sites and habitats that need to be
protected. Ultimately, The IUCN Red List helps to guide and inform future
conservation and funding priorities.
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