First-ever survey on threatened wildlife species launched.

This was stated by MoCC Secretary Hassan Nasir Jami on Tuesday.

For this purpose, the ministry will conduct a survey.

'The Pakistan Red Data List will be the most comprehensive inventory of the wildlife plants, animals, and other organisms of global importance that will help guide and boost actions for conservation and protection of wildlife species threatened with extinction risks of varying degree in Pakistan,' Jami said.

Data collected for the Pakistan-specific Red List will be based upon a precise criteria which is used globally to evaluate the extinction risk posed to thousands of species and subspecies, the climate change secretary said.

Acting MoCC Inspector General Forest and Pakistan Red List Initiative team leader Suleman Warraich said that nearly 50 wildlife scientists and biodiversity experts, researchers, surveyors, university students from International Union for Conservation of Nature-Pakistan (IUCN-Pakistan), World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P), Zoological Survey of Pakistan, Wildlife Conservation Society Pakistan have been engaged for collecting the data. They will visit various parts of the country to complete a survey of existing wild animals, plants and other organisms and the threat to their survival.

Before sending the teams into the field, he said that they will undergo capacity-building training to use the appropriate methodologies, survey tools and techniques with accuracy and precision.

'The Red List will be an indicator of the health of the country's biodiversity, which is beset with various risks, which makes it much more than a list of species and their status. Besides...