Time for version 2.0: IUCN Red List outdated and unreliable, claim scientists in new paper

Subject :Environment

Section: Biodiversity

Context:

Scientists and conservationists across the world have expressed concerns that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is outdated and unreliable.

About the IUCN Red List:

Formed in 1964, the Red List is an extinction risk assessment tool.
It is the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.
Under the list, species are classified into nine categories of extinction risks: Not evaluated, data deficient, least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild and extinct.
It is a powerful tool to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting the natural resources we need to survive.
It provides information about range, population size, habitat and ecology, use and/or trade, threats, and conservation actions that will help inform necessary conservation decisions.
Currently, there are more than 150,300 species on The IUCN Red List, with more than 42,100 species threatened with extinction, including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef-building corals, 34% of conifers, 27% of mammals and 13% of birds.

Flaws in the Red List:

Researchers have highlighted the flaws in the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) system of assigning species status.
There are only 150,000 species assessed by IUCN which contributes less than 10 per cent of the two million described species in the world. The percentage gets skewed dramatically after considering the recent global biodiversity estimates, which suggest animal species exceeding 50 million.
While the Red List has about 42,100 species threatened, the IPBES, on the other hand, states that more than a million species are facing potential extinction threats.
Furthermore, more undescribed species may face extinction threats, and many classified species may already be threatened, but IUCN-recommended reassessments every 10 years have not been completed.
The categories and criteria are over 30 years old and have not evolved gravely. The systems were implemented without technological tools such as geographic information systems and remote sensing, and simple assumptions were used without inferences, among others.
Several stork species have been assigned least Concern even though these species had exceedingly little information available about their needs and ecological requirements.
A few species whose conservation status is controversial: Woolly-necked storks (vulnerable) and greater adjutant storks (least concern).