119 - Improving process and action to identify and recover ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species

119 - Improving process and action to identify and recover ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species

Latest version in this language: Version for electronic vote | Published on: 22 Sep 2021

RECALLING Aichi Biodiversity Target 12 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), that ‘By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained’;

ALSO RECALLING Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 to ‘conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development’, and SDG 15 to ‘protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss’;

NOTING the United Nations General Assembly declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration;

RECOGNISING that the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (version 2019.2) has 873 species listed as Extinct, 6,127 species listed as Critically Endangered, and only 73 species listed as Extinct In the Wild despite extensive collections of ex situ populations for highly imperiled species of animal, plants and fungi globally;

ACKNOWLEDGING the vital role of the world’s zoological institutions and botanical gardens in providing valuable care for these ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species;

RECOGNISING that some species previously listed as Extinct in the Wild have been downlisted in the IUCN Red List as the result of effectively integrated and implemented reintroduction programmes as well as additional ex situ roles that are stated in the IUCN Species Survival Commission Guidelines on the Use of Ex situ Management for Species Conservation;

RECOGNISING that Red List status is important in prioritising conservation strategies and actions; and

CONCERNED that some species listed as Critically Endangered and lacking the tag ‘Possibly Extinct in the wild’, should now be tagged as such or reclassified as ‘Extinct in the Wild’, and concerned that the lack of such classification may preclude focused attention on such species before ex situ populations dwindle or become unsuitable for reintroduction into the wild;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. REQUESTS the Species Survival Commission (SSC) to continue valuable efforts to assess species that might warrant listing as Extinct in the Wild or Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild) according to the guidelines in IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, and to recognise the role of populations outside historic ranges resulting from assisted colonisation, as defined in the Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations in these assessments;

2. ENCOURAGES Members, in particular government agencies and non-governmental organisations, and Commissions to develop collaborative and ambitious strategies, action plans and targets to initiate the responsible re-establishment of ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species in the wild by 2030, with significant demonstrable progress by 2024, as a significant contribution towards achieving a post-2020 strategy for biodiversity;

3. URGES that conservation translocation efforts of ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species be conducted in strict accordance with the IUCN Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations;

4. URGES zoological and botanical gardens, government agencies and other relevant institutions serving as custodians for ‘Extinct in the Wild’ species to lead public awareness of their plight, to help develop collaborative conservation translocation strategies, and to contribute individuals for releases while minimising the generations of species kept in such institutions prior to translocation; and

5. CALLS ON donors to support efforts that aim to assess the status of species according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, and especially to help resource efforts that work to re-establish species in the wild.

For clarification, please note that the current definition according to the IUCN Red List (2012) for 'Extinct in the Wild' reads as follows:
‘A taxon is Extinct in the Wild when it is known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalized population (or populations) well outside the past range. A taxon is presumed Extinct in the Wild when exhaustive surveys in known and/or expected habitat, at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal, annual), throughout its historic range have failed to record an individual. Surveys should be over a time frame appropriate to the taxon’s life cycle and life form. ‘

Please also realize that the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Strategic Plan 2017-2020 aims among others for ‘Result 3. Selected species groups are periodically reassessed to allow the IUCN Red List Index to be widely used as an effective biodiversity indicator’, and for ‘Result 7. The IUCN Red List is used effectively to inform policy and action’.

Finally please note that we would see a significant role for communication, particularly in terms of conveying successes of past 'Extinct In the Wild' species recoveries. This is the ultimate example that conservation can work, sometimes against all odds.

  • Canadian Wildlife Federation [Canada]
  • PROVITA [Venezuela]
  • World Association of Zoos and Aquariums [Spain]

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