The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List celebrates 50 years of administering conservation action this year. The list complies and documents species of plants and animals in need of conservation efforts and assigns them a status according to their risk of extinction and produces major analysis every four years. IUCN with its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, is the world's largest and global network of membership union with over 200 Government and 900 plus non-governmental organizations. In addition IUCN has 11000 voluntary scientists and experts grouped in six commissions in 160 countries.
The IUCN Red List is not only the world's most comprehensive database on global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species, but a powerful device to enlighten and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change. It also provides information on population size and trends, geographic range and habitat needs of species.
The IUCN Red List helps in conservation planning by informing the policy makers on important plant, important bird areas and key biodiversity areas. The data also helps the decision makers' right from environment impact assessment (EIA) to multilateral environmental agreements. The IUCN Red List is for government agencies, wildlife departments; conservation related NGO's, natural resource planners and educational organizations so that necessary action is initiated to stop further biodiversity loss.
Since the first IUCN Red list which was conceived in 1964, it has been 50 years that IUCN has been assessing the conservation status of species and subspecies on a global scale with emphasis on species threatened with extinction and promoting their conservation. The system used by IUCN ensures that the highest standard of documentation, information management, training and scientific integrity are followed.
According to the latest update of IUCN Red List, a total of 71,576 species has been assessed of which 21,286 are threatened with extinction. Since analysing the status of a diverse variety of species at such level is very difficult, 11,881 species are deemed data deficient. The Red List does provide good news for two species of Albatross and island fox which are reported as having low risk of extinction due to increase in their population. These species previously put under critically endangered are now listed as near threatened.
However, the news is not very good for a bio diverse rich region like India as fifteen species of birds, eighteen species of reptiles and amphibians; and twelve species of mammals have entered the critically endangered category. Critically endangered category is the highest risk category of IUCN Red List of threatened species which comprises those that are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
The real bad news for ornithologists is that four species of vultures viz. Indian vulture (Gyps indicus), red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and slender billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) has been listed as critically endangered. These scavenger birds which play an important role in ecosystem are falling prey to use of chemical components like Diclofenac. Drastic loss of grassland habitat over the past decades has severely threatened the existence of Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis) and Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus). Another bird species Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti) finds its place in the critically endangered category resulting from the destruction of deciduous forests in central India. To make the situation more appalling, rampant deforestation in India's two biodiversity hotspots-the Western ghats and the Eastern Himalayas continue the endanger the existence of many other species.
Herpetofauna of our country too is under serious threat of extinction. Five species of reptiles including three species of turtles, one species of terrapin and one species of crocodile are facing the danger of extinction. The Red crowned roofed turtle (Batagur kachuga) has been pushed from endangered category in 1996 to critically endangered in 2013.
As well the two species of sea turtles viz. Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) have shown no improvement since the year 2000. Hawksbill turtle is a migratory marine reptile found in tropical and sub-tropical seas. Poaching for food, tortoiseshell trade, entangling in fishing nets and long lines, pollution as a result of plastics and climate change have brought the life of these sea lords in peril. Climate change will affect them drastically as their sex determination depends on temperature of the sand pit at the time of incubation.
The charismatic Indian Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), the oldest crocodilian is also listed as critically endangered. Once abundant in river systems of Indian subcontinent, they are now confined to India, Nepal and Bangladesh in isolated populations. Loss of habitats, trapping in fishing nets and erroneous superstitions have brought them in a vulnerable state.
Well for IUCN there is much more to be done by increasing the number of species assessed from the current count of 71,576 to 160,000 by 2020. Proper conservation efforts can revive the status of the species on the brink of extinction.
The writer is an assistant professor in zoology at Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Sakhali
