IUCN's credibility critically endangered

@article{Mrosovsky1997IUCNsCC,
  title={IUCN's credibility critically endangered},
  author={Nicholas Mrosovsky},
  journal={Nature},
  year={1997},
  volume={389},
  pages={436-436}
}
  • N. Mrosovsky
  • Published 2 October 1997
  • Environmental Science
  • Nature
The IUCN is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species, so it is important that its recommendations are based on sound and open science. Recent events suggest that this is not always the case. 
View on Springer
nature.com
60 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
27
Methods Citations
3

60 Citations

Distribution, ecology and conservation status of the Blue-headed Macaw Primolius couloni
Risk of extinction and categories of endangerment: perspectives from long-lived reptiles
TLDR
This study compares IUCN predictions with the results of attempts to derive realistic scenarios that could lead to the global extinction of six species of long-lived reptiles, finding that the predictions matched real events reasonably well but still overestimated risks of global extinction.
The dilemma of accuracy in IUCN Red List categories, as exemplified by hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata
TLDR
A fundamental weakness is that they respond more to the challenge of reinstating historical abundance than to avoiding global extinction per se, which could be overcome by using the current decline criteria to make an objective first stage determination based solely on decline, thereby overcoming almost all scientific objections.
The value of the IUCN Red List for conservation.
Seeing past the red: flawed IUCN global listings for sea turtles
TLDR
It is suggested that MTSG members desist from using the current Red List criteria to generate implausible global assessments of extinction risk and instead concentrate their efforts on developing more realistic and credible criteria, perhaps for application at the regional level.
Extinction risk assessment of threatened species
TLDR
It is impractical to avoid all kinds of ecological risk, but the extinction risk of threatened species is usually based on inadequately known factors, and a conservation program for threatened species as soon as possible, even though much more time is needed to investigate the extinction risks of these species.
Hawksbill turtles still endangered
8 Sir — In a recent Commentary article, Nicholas Mrosovsky criticized the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for the lack of documentation supporting the listing of the…
Forecasting Extinctions: Uncertainties and Limitations
Extinction forecasting is one of the most important and challenging areas of conservation biology. Overestimates of extinction rates or the extinction risk of a particular species instigate…
The listing of coast redwood as endangered under the IUCN red list: lessons for conservation
In 2013, redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.) was listed as endangered under the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. While this listing has no political or legal…
Assessing changes in the conservation status of threatened Brazilian vertebrates
TLDR
This work looks at the threat patterns on a temporal scale of Brazilian animal species included in the IUCN Red List, evaluating the hypotheses that directions of changes in red list status can be explained by the increase in scientific knowledge or by actual changes in threat factors.
...
...