A team of scientists have called for the widely used Red List, compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to be expanded into a broader representation of the world's endangered biodiveristy.
The so-called 'barometer of life' would need to monitor the status of 160,000 species, roughly three times the current 48,000 on the Red List.
Climate change
Writing in this week's Science magazine, prominent ecologists including Edward Wilson and IUCN chair Simon Stuart criticised the neglect of biodiversity amongst policymakers.
'[The] center stage is now occupied by concerns for the physical environment - in particular climate change, pollution and depletion of non-renewable resources.
'However, if the living world is to be kept in anything approaching a sustainable condition that can adapt to changes, then politicians, government officials, scientists and the public will need to give biodiversity the urgent attention that they are starting to give the physical environment,' said the authors.
Poor knowledge
Scientists believe that 1.9 million species have been discovered but estimate that the total number of species alive on earth may exceed 10 million.
The authors say an updated list, which could cost $60 million to compile, would enable scientists to better judge the health of the planet.
'Our knowledge about species and extinction rates remains very poor and this has negative consequences for our environment and economy.
'We propose that as scientists are better able to assess the conservation status of the species that compose an ecosystem the more they will understand the health of that ecosystem,' they said.
| READ MORE... | |
 |
NEWS Biodiversity 'invisible' in current economic model The steady loss of forests, soils, wetlands, fisheries, species and coral reefs around the world is closely tied to the lack of value we put on nature, says three-year study |
 |
COMMENT Why only hedgehogs can make us love nature A scientist who 'doesn't do dippy nonsense', hedgehog expert Hugh Warwick was moved by one spiny specimen into a new-found appreciation for the natural world |
 |
NEWS ANALYSIS Sticking with GDP could be the best safeguard for nature Although much maligned as a measurement of progress, some believe a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measurement that includes natural capital could be the way forward |
 |
NEWS Biodiversity crucial to lives of billions, says UNEP Ecosystems are buffering humanity against the worst impacts of global warming and also alleviating poverty, says United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) |
 |
INTERVIEW Pavan Sukhdev: you can have progress without GDP-led growth Deutsche Bank economist Pavan Sukhdev is heading up the groundbreaking TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) report and doing for nature what Sir Nicholas Stern did for climate change - valuing it |
