News: Governance of Global Taxonomic Lists

The Global Species List Working Group, under the auspices of the International Union for Biological Sciences, is investigating the potential creation of a single global list of species. We invite you to participate in a survey investigating the opinions of taxonomists and users of taxonomic information toward the development and governance of a global species list. Click below and select your preferred language from the drop-down menu at the top of the page for information about this survey in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, or Simplified Chinese. [Pour les francophones, cliquez ci-dessous. Chi parla italiano clicca qui sotto. Para hispanohablantes, haga…

In a recent paper, the members of the IUBS Scientific Programme "Governance of Global Taxonomic Lists" suggest a set of ten principles for creating and governing lists of the world’s species, and a proposed governance mechanism for ensuring that the lists are well-managed and broadly acceptable. Prof. Stephen Garnett of Charles Darwin University, the paper’s lead author and one of the Leaders of the  Governance of Global Taxonomic Lists program says, "Listing all species may sound routine but is a difficult and complex task. Currently no single, agreed list of species is available. Instead, some iconic groups of organisms such as mammals and birds…