Blog | 25 Oct, 2021
Supporting youth in solving the taxonomic impediment
Blog — All forms of conservation rely on taxonomy, the scientific field concerned with identifying and classification of organisms. Nowadays, the conservation field is facing a dearth of taxonomists and taxonomic knowledge opening up the possibility of “many species are going extinct before they…
Story | 19 Oct, 2021
Marine Heatwaves: a serious threat to marine biodiversity and livelihoods
Back in 2011, extremely warm water temperatures persisting over thousands of kilometres along the coastline of Western Australia caused coral bleaching, mass die-out of marine life and wiped out kelp forests. Since then, this phenomenon of abnormally high-water temperatures has been recorded in…
Story | 18 Oct, 2021
The Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission recognizes World Okapi Day, which has been held on October 18 each year since 2016.
Story | 13 Oct, 2021
Plankton are the superstars of the ocean and MAPMAKER is the tool that follows them
Without marine plankton our planet would be a different place. Future projections and impact metrics of plankton diversity around the world are now able to be seen graphically through the MAPMAKER tool. MAPMAKER's new visualisation tools allow data-driven decision-making on marine biodiversity…
Press release | 07 Sep, 2021
Threats to crop wild relatives compromising food security and livelihoods
Marseille, France, 6 September 2021 (IUCN) – Over 70 wild relatives of some of the world’s most important crops are threatened with extinction, according to a new IUCN co-authored study launched today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille. These plants, native to Mexico, Guatemala…
Press release | 04 Sep, 2021
Tuna species recovering despite growing pressures on marine life - IUCN Red List
Marseille, France, 4 September 2021 (IUCN) – Four commercially-fished tuna species are on the path to recovery thanks to the enforcement of regional fishing quotas over the last decade, according to today’s update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ released at the IUCN World…
Story | 23 Aug, 2021
FAO, IUCN SSC and OIE warn of African swine fever impact on wildlife conservation
The increasing rate of infection of African swine fever (ASF) among domestic and wild pigs in the Asia-Pacific region has prompted the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC), and…
Publication | 2021
Útila spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura bakeri)
The Útila spiny-tailed iguana, Ctenosaura bakeri (Stejneger, 1901), is a Critically Endangered iguana endemic to the island of Útila, in the Bay Islands archipelago of Honduras. The species occurs almost exclusively in the highly dynamic mangrove habitat on Útila (Gutsche, 2005), and is…
Story | 20 Aug, 2021
IUCN SSC experts urge for immediate action to find Saola before it’s too late
IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) released today a Position Statement on the critical need for greater search effort for Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), calling to bring expertise, funding and innovation together to save one of the world’s rarest species.
Story | 12 Aug, 2021
Shrinking spaces for the world’s largest land animal
On World Elephant Day 2021, we celebrate the largest terrestrial animals on Earth and highlight the daunting challenges that these mammals face. Today, all three elephant species, the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus), African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and African Savanna Elephant (…