What is the Red Book? What is useful in it?

Man is a part of nature, but for some reason he often forgets about it. Most often, ecology suffers from the vital activity of people themselves. Many international organizations, whose existence we do not even suspect, are trying to protect humanity, paradoxically, from itself.

What is IUCN and what does the organization do

Such environmental organizations include the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, abbreviated as IUCN. It was created by UNESCO in 1948 and is one of the world's largest non-profit and independent organizations. Among the numerous published printed publications of the Union is the Red Book. Yes, yes, the same one, the existence of which we learn from the school bench, and with time - forget. What is the International Red Book? It is not a law, it does not have any legal status, it simply has a recommendatory character for those countries where there is a threat to the animal world. The IUCN program document, which became official since 1979, is the World Conservation Strategy. IUCN is the oldest organization, it includes 78 states and, among other things, 12,000 scientists and experts from around the world. The international Red Book contains a complete list of all rare and very few representatives of the flora and fauna.

With access to the highest international level, the Union for the Conservation of Nature is ready to cooperate with any party, organization or group of volunteers whose tasks include the protection and protection of the environment. The main goal of IUCN is to communicate its ideas to the whole of mankind as effectively and as readily as possible, and, as a result, to improve the nature protection system, regardless of politics and social differences.

What is the Red Book?

The idea of publishing a book that would have collected all the endangered species of animals and plants arose long ago, therefore, as soon as the IUCN was formed, the Commission for Rare Nature Types began to develop this edition. Chairman of the commission Peter Scott suggested to call it "Red" and cover the same color - as a sign that nature is threatened with extinction. That both the color and the name of the book should make people think about the wrong attitude to nature, its barbaric destruction.

What is the Red Book? In order to preserve the world around us, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature published a Red Book in 1963, where the most rare species of fauna were collected. The edition turned out to be quite voluminous - in two volumes, but the circulation was very small, and only some state men and prominent scientists became the owners of the first copies.

Gradually, there were changes in nature ... The Red Book was reprinted four times (until 1980). During this time, 14 species of animals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians have irretrievably disappeared. If some species and subspecies of animals, birds and reptiles have been restored, then the fish and amphibians are unlucky.

Color and signs

The definition of "what is the Red Book" can be found in any encyclopedia or in a dictionary. This book is unusual in that its pages have a different color, which depends on the category of species or subspecies of representatives of flora and fauna inscribed on this or that leaf. For convenience, all views are separated and marked with the following signs:

1. Black color:

• EX - already disappeared;
• EW - still preserved, but live in captivity.

2. Red color - are endangered:

• CR - position is critical;
• EN - under the threat of extinction;
• VU - are very vulnerable.

3. Green color - low risk:

• CD - can disappear without providing the necessary security measures;
• NT - is already close to the group "under threat";
• LC - there is a risk, but minimal.

What is the Red Book of Russia?

The first edition of the Red Book of the USSR dates back to 1978. Later, Red Books began to be published on the union republics and on individual, most problem regions and regions.

The influence of man on nature in the most inhabited regions of Russia turned out to be such that some species of animals and plants became not so much less - they completely disappeared from the face of the earth. So, for example, once upon a time in Russia lived large animal tours. These individuals, similar to bison, had a huge growth, their height at the withers reached two meters. Naturally, they were the desired prey of hunters. The number of tours so abruptly declined, that officials of tsarist Russia sounded the alarm, and orders were issued to protect these animals and ban them from hunting in princely lands. But it did not help, and the tours disappeared.

The same fate befell the relative of the horse Przhevalsky - tarpan. They lived in the steppes and forest-steppes of Russia, but the settlers began plowing these lands, leaving no chance for the survival of the tarpanam. If the reserve "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" had not been created, the bison would have suffered the same fate. The list of extinct animals in Russia continues to grow, unfortunately. And now on the verge of extinction are 22 species of animals, 25 species of birds, one reptile, three species of fish, 16 invertebrates and about a hundred plants.

On the basis of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection" (1991) and "On the Animal World" (1995), the Red Book of the Russian Federation: Animals was published in 2001.

Now the Red Book of Russia is an official document on endangered species of animals and plants, of which 533 are on the verge of extinction.

What is the Red Book of Plants

The first five editions of the Red Book were devoted exclusively to endangered and rare species of animals, and since 1963 the Red Book of Plants has been published. Since that time in the definition of "what is the Red Book" has changed the line, which refers to the list of the rarest representatives of not only the animal but also the plant world

The number of dying plants is increasing at such a rate that today even the species that have recently grown everywhere in large areas have fallen into the Red Book. They can already be counted as a snowdrop snowdrop, cornflower of Dubyansky, Marshall's crib, and others.

What is the Red Book by category? The accepted division in Russia

1. Category 0. This group includes those species of plants and animals that no one has seen. The name of this group is "Probably Disappeared".

2. Category 1. These species have reached such a critical number that they can be counted individually. These are endangered animals (one of which is the Amur tiger.) And plants.

3. Category 2. Decreasing by number. They can at any time fall into one of the first two categories, if not put them in a protected area for strict supervision of the number. The representative of this group is a mandarin duck.

4. The third category is rare species. They live in limited areas and have a small number. Until recently in the suburbs the Venus shoe did not surprise anyone, and people collected bunches, enjoying its unusual beauty. Now this is a rare sight.

5. Category 4 has no status. These are species that only specialists know about; They number only 10 plants and 40 fauna.

6. Category 5. The species of this group are simply pleasing to the heart. They are called "Restored or restored." Thanks to the efforts of man, the population of some species is saved.

7. Category 6. These are the most numerous of all of the above species. They are under strict control and supervision of a person.

Now we know what the Red Book is. Only after understanding what the consumer attitude towards nature can lead to, one can learn to rejoice when plants and animals leave not our Earth, but pages of the Red Book.