IUCN Red List

Also known as Red Data List, Red List, Red List , RL, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Red Data Book

inventory of the global conservation status of biological species

AI overview

The IUCN Red List is a comprehensive inventory that tracks the conservation status of animal, plant, and fungi species around the world, categorizing them from "Least Concern" to "Extinct" based on how threatened they are. It matters because it provides scientists, policymakers, and conservation organizations with reliable data to identify which species need protection and to guide efforts to prevent extinctions.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

~10 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations.

The goals of the Red List are to provide scientifically based information on the status of species and subspecies at a global level, to draw attention to the magnitude and importance of threatened biodiversity, to influence national and international policy and decision-making, and to provide information to guide actions to conserve biological diversity.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “IUCN Red List” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.