Global Names Verifier

121

2012-02-09

587

The Red List of Threatened Species, published by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), lists the conservation status of a representative selection of plant and animal species according to the level of threat to their survival. A species may have a limited distribution or be found only in a small area in a country. From the point of view of biodiversity, however, the extinction of any species can prompt a global impact. Therefore, the related information of an endangered species should be recognized and its conservation effort be executed. IUCN estimates that there are 20,000 endangered species. The checklist of Taiwan (TaiBNET) lists 127 species as vulnerable (VU) or higher levels. The scientific name (including author and year), common names, synonyms, assessment level, and other information of these species are also included in the database. Taiwan, even the whole world, needs to actively promote the conservation work of these species. Through Taiwan Biodiversity Information Facility (TaiBIF), the information of Taiwan’s endangered species can be shared and exchanged with other GBIF participants. Users can use keywords to link to other websites with relevant information. All these efforts are to draw the world's attention to the conservation issue of endangered animals and plants.