The evolution of life forms and their interaction with each other and with the environment has made Earth a uniquely habitable place. Species and the ecosystems they are part of provide a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives. This biodiversity is essential to our planet, human wellbeing and to the livelihood and cultural integrity of people. Yet biodiversity is currently being lost at unprecedented rates due to human activities. Species extinction is a commonly used measure of biodiversity loss. As is documented in this publication, some 12% of bird species and about a quarter of mammal species are globally threatened. Species extinction rates currently exceed the background rates by two to four orders of magnitude. In effect, this amounts to the sixth great extinction of life on Earth.
To address the challenge of biodiversity loss, the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in 2002, adopted the target of achieving by 2010 a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. The world's leaders at the World Summit on Sustainable Development subsequently endorsed this target. The Summit also highlighted the essential role of biodiversity in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, especially the targets of halving the incidence of poverty and hunger by 2015.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, prepared and updated under the leadership of the Species Survival Commission of IUCN – The World Conservation Union, has for four decades provided global assessments of the status of species and other taxa in order to highlight those threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation. It is widely recognized as the most objective and authoritative listing of species that are globally at risk of extinction.
Until recently, however, it has been difficult to measure changes in the status of threatened species in an objective and scientifically rigorous way. At its meeting in February 2004, the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity called for the development of a Red List indicator as part of a set of indicators to assess progress towards the 2010 target. This Global Species Assessment applies Red List data to calculate a Red List Index. This Index combines global representativeness with a fine ecological resolution to provide information on changes in relative aggregate extinction risk across entire taxonomic groups. The Red List Index is an important tool that complements other indicators to assess progress towards the 2010 target.
I would like to congratulate the IUCN Species Survival Commission and its partner organizations – BirdLife International, Conservation International, and NatureServe – for compiling the new issue of the IUCN Red List and this Global Species Assessment and extend my appreciation to all those who are working around the world to monitor biodiversity and help build the necessary capacity and political will to ensure its conservation and sustainable use.
Hamdallah Zedan
Executive Secretary
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity
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