The Red Book: The Extinction Crisis Face To Face

"Extinction is forever. We have no doubt as to what this means.CEME.The Red Book: The Extinction Crisis Face to Face produced jointly by CEMEX, one of the world's largest cement companies, and the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of The World Conservation Union (IUCN), is a dramatic new tool to communicate the issues surrounding extinction and conservation to broad audiences.Drawing on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world's most objective and authoritative inventory of species at risk of extinction, the Red Book combines awe-inspiring imagery with solid science and factual accounts. More than 100 stunning photographs from some of the most renowned photographers reflect the extraordinary beauty and diversity of the natural world.With the Red Book's dramatic cover, readers are compelled to explore the hundreds of beautiful, weird, and intriguing species from the leafy sea dragon to the jade slipper orchid. Yet the plants and animals covered represent only a fraction of the 11,000 species listed as threatened in the Red List. In turn, the Red List represents only a fraction of the millions more species that have not been evaluated, let alone described or even discovered."The splendid images - of animals and plants and the places they inhabit - are vivid testimony of the rich variety we are privileged to live with, and a warning of how barren our world will be if we let this extinction wave run its course," says Chair of IUCN's Species Survival Commission, David Brackett.More than an awareness-raising tool, the Red Book is a call for action to all sectors of society from industry to governments to educators, to work together to save biological diversity. By joining forces with IUCN, CEMEX is showing the positive role that industry, particularly large multinational companies, can play.Patricio Robles Gil is the author of 'The Red Book: The Extinction Crisis Face To Face', published 2001 under ISBN 9789686397642 and ISBN 9686397647.