IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, a new tool for biodiversity conservation

Biological diversity provides many ecosystem functions and services that are critically important for human survival and development. In the past hundreds of years, biodiversity decreases continuously due to accelerating human activities and climate changes, leading to the alteration of ecosystem processes and ecosystems stability. By the year 2010, less than 3% of the world's known species had been evaluated for potential inclusion in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In the year of 2008, IUCN created the Ecosystems Red List (RLE) Thematic Group that aims to develop a quantitative categories and criteria system, in order to establish a global standard for the ecosystem risks assessment that can be applied at local, regional, and global levels. We close by considering how to improve the ability of ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation using RLE and putting forward suggestions for developing RLE in China.'