Red Data Book

Red Data Book

The Red Data Book is the file for recording rare and endangered species of animals, plants and fungi. Even some local sub-species that exist within the territory of a state or country are recorded in red data books. Red data book gives important data for observational studies and monitoring programmes on habits and habitats of rare and endangered species. This book is created to identify and protect the species which are about to extinct.

Red Data Book is maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It was founded in 1964 with the aim of maintaining a complete record of every species that ever lived. The Red Data Book classifies species mainly into three categories namely, threatened, not threatened and unknown. This book also has information as to why a species has become extinct along with the population trends and its distribution.

The Red Data Book contains colour-coded information sheets like black for species which are extinct, red for species that are endangered and so on. They are arranged according to the extinction risk of many species and subspecies. The following figure gives the colour coded information.

WWF – World Wildlife Fund

ZSI – Zoological Surveyof India

BRP – Biosphere Reserve Programme

CPCB – Central Pollution Control Board

IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature

Advantages of the Red Data Book

* It helps to evaluate the population of a particular species.

* The data given in this book can be used to evaluate the species at the global level.

* The risk of a species becoming globally extinct can be estimated with the help of this book.

* It provides guidelines for implementing measures for protecting endangered species.

Disadvantages of the Red Data Book

* The information available in the Red Data Book is incomplete. Many extinct species are not updated in this book.

* The source of the book’s data has been speculated.

* This book maintains the complete record of all animals, plants, other species but it has no information about the microbes.

World Wild life Day is observed on March 3rd every year.

Red Data Book of India

India, a mega-diverse country with only 2. 4% of the world’s land area, accounts for 7-8% of all recorded species, including over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals. The country’s diverse physical features and climatic conditions have resulted in a variety of ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, deserts, coastal and marine ecosystems which harbour and sustain high biodiversity and contribute to human well being. Four out of 34 globally identified biodiversity hotspots, the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the North-East, and the Nicobar Islands, can be found in India.

India became a state member of IUCN in 1969, through the Ministry of environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) . The IUCN India country office was established in 2007 in New Delhi. Red Data Book of India contains the conservation status of animals and plants which are found in the Indian subcontinent. Surveys conducted by the Zoological Survey of India and the Botanical Survey of India under the guidance of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provide the data for this book.