Species - red data listings

Many of the world’s fruit and nut trees are seriously threatened with extinction, according to the newly released Red List of Trees of Central Asia. The list is published by Fauna and Flora International (FFI) in collaboration with BGCI as part of the Global Trees Campaign.

The Red List of the Magnoliaceae, published jointly by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), through the Global Trees Campaign (GTC), identifies 131 wild magnolias as being in danger of extinction, from a global total of 245 species.

The report details the IUCN conservation status of 762 tree species and also includes information on current and potential uses of each species, in the hope that this will help promote sustainable resource management and conservation in the future. Various parts of trees found in the forest are used to make products as diverse as baseball bats, toothpaste, clothing dyes and hammocks and several species have edible parts or medicinal properties.

Rhododendrons are stunning horticultural plants widely cultivated in temperate regions. In the wild they are mainly associated with centres of diversity in the Himalayas and in South East Asia, where they form important components of montane ecosystems. In total over 1000 species are recognised and the genus is subject to ongoing taxonomic debate.

A Regional Red List Workshop for the carnivores of the Arabian Peninsula took place 8-10 February 2011. The aim of the workshop was to assess the regional conservation status of terrestrial carnivores in the Arabian Peninsula. The information provided here will help to put national conservation priorities into a regional context, thus maximising the effectiveness of local and national conservation measures, and facilitating the development of integrated regional conservation strategies.

This publication summarises results for a selection of Europe's native species of vascular plants. In total 1,826 vascular plant species have been assessed from the following groups: species listed on European or international policy instruments, selected priority crop wild relatives, and aquatic plant species. Of those at least 467 species are threatened with extinction.

This publication summarises results for all of Europe's native species of freshwater fishes and lampreys. At least 37% of these species are threatened. Major threats include the over-abstraction of water, which in many cases is further exacerbated by increasing droughts due to climate change, pollution, and the introduction of alien species.

This publication summarises results for all of Europe's native freshwater species of mollusc and for a selection of terrestrial mollusc families.