Red Data Book Completed for All Endangered Fauna

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 Posted: 12:05 AM JST

The Japanese Red Data Book for insects was revised and published in August 2006. With this edition, the Red Data Book series now cover all animal taxa in Japan.

Red Data Books describe the appearance, distribution, status, and other ecological information of species listed on Red Lists, inventories of endangered wild species and their conservation status. Prepared in many countries for their own species, the Japanese Red Data Books are compiled by the Ministry of the Environment based on the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

The revised edition contains up-to-date information on insects being collected since the release of the first edition in 1991. Of 29,000 evaluated species, the new book lists 139 species and subspecies as threatened (critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable), and covers a total of 392 species, including near-threatened and lower risk species.

The Red Data Book, titled Threatened Wildlife of Japan (Insects), is available at the Japan Wildlife Research Center. The Red Lists and Red Data Books may be downloaded from the Biodiversity Center of Japan website.

First published in December 2006 by Japan for Sustainability (JFS). Many thanks to JFS for their kind permission to reprint the article at iKjeld.com.

Keywords: national_news

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