The Red List Grows Longer

by Sarah Dowdey | November 06, 2009

The IUCN Red List details the state of the planet's threatened species. Long story short, the list's latest update paints a pretty dire picture, one forecasting extinctions that extend far beyond the poster animals gracing your World Wildlife Fund Christmas cards.

According to BBC News, 21 percent of known mammals are at serious risk, 30 percent of amphibians, 70 percent of plants and 35 percent of invertebrates. That’s 17,291 species in need of serious assistance, mostly in the form of habitat conservation.

The reports comes out only months before 2010, the target year set by the Convention on Biological Diversity to reduce such losses. The IUCN's Director of the Biodiversity Conversation Group, Jane Smart, thinks the latest Red List "shows the 2010 target […] will not be met. It's time for [g]overnments to start getting serious about saving species."

Fortunately, the Red List isn't just species' names written in blood; it also includes information about each species' particular threats, its ecological requirements and ways to reduce extinctions. Conservation groups and governments use the list to plan their protection strategies and legislation.

The Convention itself suggests that the monetization of biodiversity, combined with the more traditional means of conservation or habitat protection, will better preserve it. The group reasons that "biodiversity will be better protected through actions that are justified on their economic merits. The development of tools for the valuation of biodiversity is a priority."

A threatened animal you're probably already familiar with: an Amur tiger. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)