The Red Book of the Perm Region.
Rare and extinct species of the Perm Region flora and fauna.
Over the last two decades our vocabulary has been enriched with such concepts as rare and endangered species as well as biodiversity, plant and animal kingdom conservation, monitoring, cadastre, the Red Book and others. It is due to realizing the global ecological crisis menace. Today as a result of anthropogenic impact the planet is threatened with extinction of thousands of plant and animal species. This process should be brought to a stop since the further biodiversity decrease can lead to the ecosystems destabilization, loss of the biosphere continuity and failure of biosphere to sustain the most important environmental conditions vital for life and in particular human life. One of the ways of the biodiversity conservation is the Red Books which are public documents with a legal position. They contain information about more vulnerable plant and animal species as well as practical guidelines on the stabilization and restoration of their abundance.
There are over 9 thousand animal species and 7 thousand plant species on the Red List of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Since 1600 the extinction of 484 animal and 654 plant species on the planet has been registered. 474 animal and 533 plant species were included on the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
To ensure objective and complete evaluation of the rare species it was necessary to publish the Red Books of the regional level that will be logically followed by new editions of the higher level based on the principle from a population to a species. Russia saw these publications in the 80s of the 20th century after the academic discussion on the expediency of such books. The Red Book of the USSR was published in 1984, the Red Book of RSFSR – in 1987. Among first publications were the Red Books of Belorussia, Ukraine, Bashkiria. According to the Act on “preservation of the environment” each region of the Russian Federation was empowered to publish the regional Red Book in 1991 and since 1995 the publication has become obligatory. Thus, the authorities have set up legal conditions to implement activities aimed to identify and conserve rare and endangered plant and animal species. However, at first stages it was clear that there was lack of information about these species; that is why scientific organizations should closely collaborate with conservancies and engage social institutions and nature lovers in common work.
Under the federal regulation the Red Book should be republished once every ten years but since biodiversity is constantly changing over time it is stipulated to review species lists at regular intervals between the publications. The species lists are to be compiled by special commission and approved by regional authorities.
The Red Book of the Middle Ural published in 1996 was effective as the first book but now needs to undergo extensive review. Currently the decree ¹ 235 on “The list of the animals, plants and mushrooms species included in the Red Book”, issued by the governor in October, 11 2001, is effective in the Perm region. Thus, the Perm region has eventually seen the Red Book though in form of the list for the time being. The book is about to be published in 2007.
In this section you can find the scale of species rarity categories adopted in the Red Book of the Perm region and the Russian Federation as well as a complete list of the rare and extinct plants, mushrooms and animals species listed in the Red Book of the Perm region. There is also data about speciesabundance, animals and plants habitations and brief description of their aspect and lineaments. The problem and its possible solutions should call the attention of many people from the region that are eager to conserve rare species and the whole biodiversity. We hope this material will make people care about natural resources of the Perm region and contribute to ecological thinking. |
