Scientists from six Caribbean countries recently participated in a training course in The Bahamas on how to assess potentially threatened and endangered species for classification on the IUCN Red List:

Fourteen Bahamian and eight Caribbean experts took part in a week of training in Nassau on how to assess threatened and endangered species, known as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List training.

The training took place in the week of November 12 at the Bahamas National Trust’s Retreat Garden and included Bahamians from government and non-governmental organisations including staff from BNT, Island Conservation, the Forestry Unit, the Department of Marine Resources and the Bahamas Environment Science and Technology Commission. Also attending were botanists from Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Barbados and Florida.

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“The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the world’s leading authority on the conservation status of all species and is an important tool in assessing a country’s biodiversity status and conservation priorities,” the BNT said.

Assessing species and adding them to the IUCN Red List can help to mobilise resources for additional research and conservation action:

The IUCN Red List is a critical indicator of the health of the world’s biodiversity. Far more than a list of species and their status, it is a powerful tool to inform and catalyze 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.

The IUCN Red List is used by government agencies, wildlife departments, conservation-related non-governmental organizations (NGOs), natural resource planners, educational organizations, students, and the business community.

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Ultimately, The IUCN Red List helps to guide and inform future conservation and funding priorities.

For more, see the full article in The Bahamas Tribune, along with the IUCN Red List website.

[Image: via Wikipedia]