Since the 1960s, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation network, has been compiling registers, lists and books of threatened species. These evolved into the annually updated “Red List” which comprises over 16,000 species.
Highlighting those species that are facing a high risk of global extinction is not the sole purpose of the Red List, however.
The real power and utility behind it is an expert-driven compendium of information on species’ ecological requirements, geographic distributions and threats – together this can arm us with the knowledge on what the challenges to nature are, where they are operating, and how to combat them.
The flora and fauna featured in nextinct’s designs are, in most cases, listed in the “Red List” and are classified using the following IUCN classifications:
EXTINCT (EX) : when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
EXTINCT IN THE WILD (EW) : when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population (or populations) well outside the past range.
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED (CR) : considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
ENDANGERED (EN) : considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
VULNERABLE (VU) : considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
NEAR THREATENED (NT) : close to qualifying for, or is likely to qualify for, a threatened category in the near future.
LEAST CONCERN (LC) : widespread and abundant species are included in this category, although classification may differ in specific regions of the globe.
For more information, please visit www.iucn.org
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
For more information, please visit www.cites.org
