It’s been a year since the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) celebrated the first annual Lost Species Month. Here are some highlights from the past year:
-Four species from Re:wild’s most wanted lost species list were rediscovered this year: Attenborough’s Long-beaked Echidna in West Papua, Fagilde’s Trapdoor Spider in Portugal, De Winton’s Golden Mole in South Africa, and Big Puma Fungus in Chile.
-Additionally, from IUCN’s taxa-specific partnerships with American Bird Conservancy and Birdlife International for birds and Shoal Conservation for freshwater fish, the Mayr’s Honeyeater in West Papua and Leopard Barbel in Turkey were also found.
-The first-ever multi-taxa lost species expedition was undertaken in Makira, Madagascar, with Wildlife Conservation Society, The Peregrine Fund, University of Antananarivo, Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation, and American Bird Conservancy, which resulted in the rediscovery of a record 21 lost species.
Learn more at https://www.rewild.org/lost-species
In celebration of Lost Species Month, the IUCN’s Species Survival commission in partnership with Re:wild and Reverse the Red, will once again host a webinar series. (As these are 6am PDT, register at https://www.reversethered.org/events to get the recordings, or tune in live if you are an early bird!)
-Tuesday, October 8 at 9am ET. Storytelling Expo: How We Talk About Lost Species.
-Tuesday, October 15 at 9am ET. Data Driven: The Strategy of Lost Species.
-Thursday, October 31 at 9am ET. Models: How Citizen Science Contributes to the Search for Lost Species.
Remember “All is not lost. We can protect and restore our planet.”