Conserving Threatened Species is Only a Click Away

London, United Kingdom, June 24, 2009 --(PR.com)-- International targets set for reducing biodiversity loss may still be achieved with the help of a new online conservation tool.

The new initiative led by the Zoological Society of London brings together information on the world’s threatened species and demonstrates that we know the least about the status of animals and plants in areas where diversity is greatest.

This means that in parts of the world where conservation planning may be most critical, we lack information to effectively prioritise and manage species.

“Producing National Red Lists is a critical first stage in identifying where species are threatened, why they are threatened and what needs to be done about it. We tend to know the least about threatened species in the parts of the world where extinctions are occurring most rapidly. Implementing national red lists will help to address this imbalance and greatly assist us in effective conservation action,” says Jonathan Ballie, Director of Conservation Programmes at the Zoological Society of London.

The capacity-building National Red List website currently holds over 50,000 species from 40 countries and regions. It highlights that some of the world’s most biodiverse countries, such as Indonesia and Madagascar, lack National Red Lists and are in dire need of conservation investment.

”This is the first time that National Red Lists have been centralised, thus providing a powerful information resource for conservation action at the national level. It is a powerful complementary information source to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™” says Jane Smart, Head of IUCN Species Programme.

The website will also allow people to track the success of their nation in meeting the targets to reduce biodiversity loss by 2010, set by the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The National Red List website launches on the 19th June 2009: www.nationalredlist.org

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Editorial Notes

This National Red List website provides a powerful complementary information source to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species which provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on plants and animals that have been globally evaluated using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. The main purpose of the IUCN Red List is to catalogue and highlight those plants and animals that are facing a higher risk of global extinction. The IUCN Red List is a partnership between IUCN, its Species Survival Commission and partners Zoological Society of London, BirdLife International, Conservation International and NatureServe.

Founded in 1826, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity: our key role is the conservation of animals and their habitats. The Society runs ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, carries out scientific research at the Institute of Zoology and is actively involved in field conservation overseas. For further information please visit www.zsl.org.