TREE RED LISTING

The Global Trees Campaign, under the auspices of the IUCN /SSC Global Tree Specialist Group, is working to compile red lists of threatened tree species. Red Lists are a valuable tool to assist conservation planning and decision making by governments and other organisations. They use available information to assess the conservation status of tree species against the internationally agreed IUCN Categories and Criteria, thus identifying the most rare and threatened species in need of conservation attention. The use of the IUCN categories and criteria ensures standardisation and allows comparison not only within trees but also with other groups of plants and animals.

The production of tree Red Lists contributes to achievement of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Global Strategy For Plant Conservation (GSPC), developed under the CBD. Target 2 of the GSPC calls for a provisional list of threatened plant species by 2010.

The World List of Threatened Trees, published in 1998, assessed the status of the world’s trees using version 2.3 of the IUCN Categories and Criteria, which was current at the time. For pragmatic reasons, The World List of Threatened Trees did not cover all of the world’s tree species (there are thought to be around 100,000 species), and there were particularly notable gaps in some taxonomic or geographic areas. Furthermore, in 2001 a revised version of the IUCN Categories and Criteria was published (version 3.1). Although existing red list assessments under the old Categories and Criteria are still valid, there is a need to progressively revise assessments using the more recent version.

The Global Trees Campaign red-listing programme aims to fill some of the gaps in The World List of Threatened Trees and to revise existing assessments using the most up-to-date categories and criteria. Trees are being assessed in both taxonomic and geographic groups, depending on conservation priorities and practical opportunities. In many cases, however, there is inadequate information on the status of species and further field surveys are urgently needed for many groups and areas.

The following tree red lists have been completed so far:

The Red List of Oaks
The Red List of Magnoliaceae
The Red List of Trees of the Caucusus
The Red List of Trees of Guatemala
The Red List of Endemic Trees and Shrubs of Ethiopia and Eritrea
Provisional Red List of Trees of MesoAmerican Dry Tropical Forests
The Red List of Trees of Central Asia NEW
The Red List of Maples NEW

Work is ongoing on the following tree red lists:

The Red List of Mexican Cloud Forest Trees
Developing a Red List of Rhododendrons

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