Side Event

National Red Lists - challenges and opportunities

Organizer
Zoological Society of London

Date and Time
25 October 2010 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10)

Accurate extinction risk assessment is vital in determining conservation priorities and establishing biodiversity management plans at all governance levels. By applying the reputed IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria at the regional level, regional and national Red Lists provide the most practical means of assessing species’ conservation status, allowing countries to identify species or ecosystems at greatest risk, raise awareness of threatened species, and ultimately develop effective conservation policies and action plans. National red lists repeated at regular intervals can also be used to provide insight into biodiversity trends, and this information is critical for reporting to international conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity. This side event will introduce National Red Lists, discuss their use in national-level conservation planning, review what they have told us so far about biodiversity change and identify the major taxonomic and geographical gaps in National Red Lists produced globally. Speakers involved with Red Listing in Asia and South America will discuss their National Red Lists as case studies, including their motives for producing the list, the organisations involved, how the assessments were conducted, how the information was utilised and presented, how the information will be periodically updated, and finally they will consider any challenges encountered during the compilation of the National Red List.