Species conservation science

Animals, fungi and plants are essential to a healthy planet, but growing pressures from human activities are increasingly putting them at risk of extinction. Understanding the health of the world��s biodiversity is essential to inform and guide conservation action. ��ϲʿ��¼�� is at the forefront of the global fight to save species from extinction, through our work in species conservation science.

Featured Work

Conservation Tool

��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List of Threatened Species

The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List of Threatened Species? is the world��s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species. Open to all, it is used by��

Conservation Tool

Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric

The Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric measures the contribution that investments can make to reducing species�� extinction risk. It helps governments, cities, civil society, the��

Conservation Tool

Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa

News | 08 Dec, 2023

Nature-Positive

��ϲʿ��¼�� is producing guidance to support businesses and non-state actors in making Nature-Positive contributions, including for setting and implementing verified, robust targets for species and��

Leading global species conservation science

��ϲʿ��¼�� leads in the production of conservation tools to monitor the status of the natural world and measure progress towards achieving global goals.

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28%

of species assessed on the ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List of Threatened Species? are at risk of extinction.

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56%

of global extinction risk reduction could be achieved by restoring habitats, according to the Species Threat and Abatement metric.

Assessing biodiversity

The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List of Threatened Species? is the world��s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.?The shows trends in overall extinction risk for species groups.

The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List Index (RLI) of species survival for mammals, birds, amphibians, reef-forming corals and cycads.

Photo: The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List of Threatened Species?

The Environmental Impact Classification for Alien Taxa (EICAT) is the ��ϲʿ��¼�� global standard for measuring the severity of environmental impacts caused by animals, fungi and plants living outside their natural range. The??is managed by the ��ϲʿ��¼�� Species Survival Commission Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) and the??is an ISSG led initiative.

Science underpinning conservation planning and action

As part of the Key Biodiversity Areas?Partnership, ��ϲʿ��¼�� supports the vision of the KBA Programme to identify, document, manage, resource and safeguard a comprehensive network of sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity.

Based on ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List data, the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric?estimates the contribution that investments can make to reducing species�� extinction risk.

The brings together ��ϲʿ��¼��ϡ�s established metrics, including STAR and the Restoration Barometer, to calculate the proportion of global goals that conservation work could deliver in a given place.

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Taking the measure of conservation

The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Contributions for Nature platform shows how ��ϲʿ��¼�� Members' conservation and restoration actions are helping to achieve global goals. This will be valuable in measuring progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the��

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Science-based policy engagement

��ϲʿ��¼�� provides scientific information and technical advice to support the development of international, regional and national conservation policy, including the??(CBD),??and?.

The ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List provides indicators for the United Nations?, particularly??and?.?

The Global Species Action Plan?offers support to assist governments and other stakeholders to take all the actions needed to meet global goals to prevent extinctions and improve the status of wild species.

The?Reverse the Red movement aims to unit tools and partnerships to support countries in delivering CBD targets.

Issues brief

Synthetic biology and its implications for biodiversity conservation

Synthetic biology refers to technologies that allow humans to make precise alterations to the genes of organisms. Synthetic biology applications have important positive and negative implications��

Issues brief

Measuring contributions towards terrestrial and marine biodiversity targets

Biodiversity is declining at a faster rate than at any other time in human history, driven by unsustainable economic activity. Businesses, governments, and civil society around the world lack��

Issues brief

Invasive alien species and sustainable development

Invasive alien species (IAS) are species introduced into places outside their natural range that have negative impacts on native biodiversity. IAS have major impacts on human��

Local to global expertise

��ϲʿ��¼��ϡ�s Members, Commissions and Secretariat from all over the world work together on species conservation science.

The active participation of ��ϲʿ��¼�� Members and Commissions supports the production of conservation tools hosted by the Secretariat. For example, the ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List is made possible through the , and the? is open to all ��ϲʿ��¼�� constituents to submit their work. ��ϲʿ��¼�� co-hosts the KBA Secretariat with Birdlife International, and is one of 13 organisations in the KBA Partnership.

The Species Survival Commission is a science-based network of more than 10,500 volunteer experts, who provide specialist knowledge of animal, fungus and plant species.

The Secretariat��s Science and Data Centre includes the Science and the Biodiversity Assessment and Knowledge teams, with experts on the ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List, freshwater biodiversity, invasive alien species and key biodiversity areas.

Press release | 11 Oct, 2022

Over one third of hoverflies threatened with extinction in Europe - ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red��

Brussels, Belgium, 11 October 2022 (��ϲʿ��¼��) �C Thirty-seven per cent of all hoverfly species in Europe are threatened with extinction, according to the first continent-wide assessment of this essential��

Press release | 21 Jul, 2022

Migratory monarch butterfly now Endangered - ��ϲʿ��¼�� Red List

Gland, Switzerland, 21 July 2022 (��ϲʿ��¼��) �C The migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus plexippus), known for its spectacular annual journey of up to 4,000 kilometres across the Americas, has��

Press release | 08 Apr, 2021

Transforming crop and timber production could reduce species extinction risk by��

Gland, Switzerland, 8 April 2021 (��ϲʿ��¼��) �C Ensuring sustainability of crop and timber production would mitigate the greatest drivers of terrestrial wildlife decline, responsible for 40% of the overall��