BIOLOGICAL
CONSERVATION
Biological Conservation 126 (2005) 129130
Book reviews
N. Mrosovsky, Predicting Extinctions: Fundamental
Flaws in IUCNs Red List System, Exemplified by the
Case of Sea Turtles, Department of Zoology, University
of Toronto, 2003. p. 70, ISBN 0 9734777 0 9 (paper),
Available free of charge as a pdf file from http://
members.seaturtle.org/mrosovsky. Limited copies avail-
able from the author
The Red Lists have been called IUCNs most famous
product and indeed they have been a basis for assessing
declining and threatened species. The author gives a de-
tailed analysis and sets out his views accompanied by his
reasoning, as to why he considers the system needs reden-
ing. To illustrate these points he uses the case of sea turtles,
in which he is both clearly interested and well-informed.
The history of the original denitions and their evolu-
tion together with the categories of Red Listing is out-
lined. These criteria had to be defensible in the strongest
scientic terms. The aims were to allow the criteria to be
applied consistently by dierent people, to improve objec-
tivity by providing clear guidance, to develop a system
which would facilitate comparisons across widely dier-
ent taxa, and to give people a better understanding of
how individual species were classied. For some species,
and particularly those that are wide-ranging or long-
lived, data and information might not be sucient to as-
sign the species to a category, so wider categories were
added. The system was not meant to be one for determin-
ing action but rather to inform decision-making and sub-
sequent actions. The author suggests that a system for
assessing threats from extinction should be dierent from
a system helping to set priorities for action, but IUCN has
actually stated that the two should be separate.
Much of the text is devoted to the case for sea turtles
and the apparent inadequacies that the IUCN criteria
show in relation to this group. The precautionary ele-
ment led to the green turtles remaining as Endangered
even though they were more abundant than other species
doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.02.009
Wilfred Beckerman, A Poverty of Reason Sustainable
Development and Economic Growth, Published by the
Independent Institute Oakland, California, 2004, ISBN
0-945999-85-2. pp. 103, Price $17.95 (paper)
www.elsevier.com/locate/biocon
in that category. The problems of global species are illus-
trated by the fact that some species could be declining or
threatened in some parts of the world and yet not in oth-
ers. He therefore suggests that it may be better to apply
the criteria to meaningful areas instead of world-wide.
Dierent groups of people may apply the criteria in
dierent ways. To help elucidate the assessment process
it would be appropriate to make available all the evi-
dence that was used in reaching the decisions, including
personal communication where relevant.
This would certainly help future workers to trace the
whole process and make it more transparent, and this is
now a recommended part of the process.
The IUCN system is constantly changing and becom-
ing more complex but is it becoming better is the ques-
tion asked. There is a need for common sense
judgements to be used alongside the rigid application
of the criteria. Although the present system has short-
comings there is no other existing system that is better.
Sea turtles have become a test case for the Red Lists
but the author considers that it is now time to bring
some sense into the process particularly regarding the
matter of supporting evidence, and in reassessing the va-
lue of criteria as predictors of extinction, especially for
long-lived and widespread species. He is correct to state
that there is clearly an opportunity for IUCN to arm
its mission of providing the best objective information
together with its high regard for science. This will benet
both the species it seeks to save and the organization it-
self as a leader in promoting conservation.
Lynne Farrell
Scottish Natural Heritage
Battleby, Redgorton
Perth PH1 3EW, UK
E-mail address: lynne.farrell@snh.gov.uk
Available online 28 June 2005
It was with great interest that I turned the pages of A
Poverty of Reason, a critique of sustainable development
written not from an ecologists or environmentalists
standpoint but by an economist. Would this publication