Red and green lists for ecosystems and protected areas of the world.

Preparations for the Green List of Well-Managed Protected Areas, which will celebrate the successes achieved with respect to the actions taken for the conservation of these spaces, and the new Red List of Ecosystems, which will evaluate the state of ecosystems around the world, to identify their risks and the possible effect on them and on human well-being, are two of the aspects that are being advanced at the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) World Conservation Congress, which is taking place in the city of Jeju, Korea until September 15.

The IUCN Green List will reward innovation, excellence and commitment to the effective management of protected areas, which, in order to be included, must meet a series of criteria such as: compliance with their conservation objectives, effective management and equitable governance.

The benefits of being on the IUCN Green List include enhanced international recognition of the protected area, increased political support, interest in quality tourism and deeper motivation of managers and other staff in charge. 

By 2020, at least 171 TP3T of the world's terrestrial areas and 101 TP3T of marine areas are expected to be effectively and equitably managed and conserved.

Instead, the Red List of Ecosystems will identify whether an ecosystem is vulnerable, endangered or critically threatened, using a set of risk assessment criteria that will inform current and future threats to ecosystem services such as clean water, climate regulation and natural resources.

The objective of the Red List of Ecosystems is to guide conservation action in these areas, including investment priorities and land use planning, assessing the risks of ecosystem collapse and the subsequent loss of services derived from them.

The process of creating the Red List of Ecosystems is in the phase of assessing the world's ecosystems after the evaluation criteria were consolidated since its launch in 2008, and although regional assessments will be disseminated as information is obtained, complete global coverage of all the Earth's ecosystems - marine, terrestrial, freshwater and underground - is planned for the year 2025.