Reverse the Red movement celebrates its first World Day and looks forward to a year of action
Contact:
Megan Joyce | communications@reversethered.org
Tania Kahlon | tania.kahlon@waza.org
Aritzaith Rodríguez Raymond | ssc@iucn.org
For Immediate Release - February 1, 2023
Partners, civil society organisations, zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, and communities around the world are getting ready to celebrate the first ever Reverse the Red Day on February 7. Amplifying Success is a pillar of Reverse the Red, and this first annual celebration will showcase conservation in action, efforts across the world that are making a difference for species conservation. Events will be taking place online and in person at a variety of locations to celebrate this landmark day for species conservation.
The goal of Reverse the Red is simple but ambitious: we need to stop pushing our environment to the brink and relegating more species into worse and worse status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. To upend species and ecosystem loss, we need systemic change, which is why the Reverse the Red movement brings together a diverse coalition of partners to collaborate, scale up aspirations and impact, and engage people from all walks of life to take action for biodiversity.
“This decade is key: we must make important decisions for nature conservation and take action to Reverse the Red and help species and ecosystems thrive. Ambitious targets, like those set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, are necessary to shock us into action. The Reverse the Red movement taps into that need for coordinated action, as opposed to random acts of kindness for the planet,” says Prof Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission and co-chair of the Reverse the Red Executive Committee.
Last December, in Montreal, Canada, nearly 200 governments adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) with four goals and 23 targets for 2030. Reverse the Red’s four pillars align with many aspects of the framework and we hope to support some of the structure needed by governments to deliver on these goals and targets. For example, the Assess-Plan-Act cycle supports efforts to meet Target 4, which seeks to ensure action for the recovery and conservation of species including through in situ and ex situ practices. Reverse the Red’s social movement and behaviour change campaigns improve education and access to relevant and accurate information and alternatives, a part of Target 16. And where Target 20 seeks strengthening capacity building and development, Reverse the Red is perfectly poised with a vast network of organisations, institutions, governments, coalitions, and communities, to can convene national partnerships to support increasing national-level capacity for target-based biodiversity assessments, planning and action. With 10 Centers for Species Survival and three IUCN SSC National Species Specialist Groups already signed on with more on the way, Reverse the Red is convening a diverse range of experts and resources working across taxa to support governments and facilitate science-based decision making.
“The role of zoos, aquariums, and botanic gardens play in bridging the gap between in situ and ex situ is critical for recovering species. Successful population discoveries, research, breeding and releases, and veterinary care are vital contributions to species that have made positive moves on the Red List. These institutions also play an important role connecting people to nature and nature to people. We have a chance to be the first generation to reverse species decline if we all act together,” - emphasises Prof Theo Pagel, WAZA Past-President and co-chair of the Reverse the Red Executive Committee.
We have already successfully moved over 200 species one or more steps away from extinction on the IUCN Red List. Partners like zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens, research institutions, scientific networks, governments, tribal and indigenous governments, and community members have a hand in reversing the red for these species. Contributions to breeding, husbandry, rescue and release, pathology, veterinary medicine, genetic management, education, fundraising, community engagement, and more are key to meeting targets and recovering species.
“Saving species is possible. What we need is rational hope, motivated by a clear vision, strong partnerships, and the desire to make strategic, successful conservation a global movement” - says Dr. Jenny Gray, WAZA Past President and Reverse the Red Executive Committee Member.
This year, Reverse the Red is mobilising national networks, boosting capacity to set and meet biodiversity targets, measuring impact conservation actions have for species, empowering communities to take action and affect change for biodiversity, and amplifying successful conservation across levels, geographies, and taxa.
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Contact:
Megan Joyce | communications@reversethered.org
Tania Kahlon | tania.kahlon@waza.org
Aritzaith Rodríguez Raymond | ssc@iucn.org
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About IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 15,000 experts. IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
About the IUCN Species Survival Commission
With over 8,300 members in 186 territories, the Species Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of the six expert commissions of IUCN and enables IUCN to influence, encourage and assist societies to conserve biodiversity by building knowledge on the status and threats to species, providing advice, developing policies and guidelines, facilitating conservation planning, and catalysing conservation action. Learn more at www.iucn.org/ssc.
About Reverse the Red
Reverse the Red is a global movement co-chaired by IUCN SSC and WAZA that ignites strategic cooperation and action to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems and reverse the negative trend of biodiversity loss. Through a strategic initiative, Reverse the Red brings together a diverse coalition of leading scientists, advocates, and partners committed to using a data-driven and science-based approach to assess, plan, and act for species conservation. Reverse the Red provides the tools and expertise to empower governments, partners and local communities to set and reach species conservation targets and celebrates and amplifies successful achievements for species.
About WAZA
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the global alliance of regional associations, national federations, zoos and aquariums, dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world.