Incorporating tree species into Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)

Project: Ongoing

Funded by: Fondation Franklinia

Project Goals

The project aims to identify tree species which meet the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) criteria. These potential AZE trigger species can then be incorporated into the Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) network. 

Project Background

Some of the Earth’s most threatened species are restricted to just a single site, making these sites globally irreplaceable from a biodiversity conservation viewpoint. These species are in urgent need of conservation in order to prevent global extinction. These sites are irreplaceable and require safeguarding. 

Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) was established to identify, effectively conserve and safeguard the most important sites for preventing global species extinctions. AZE sites are a subsection of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA). All confirmed AZE sites qualify as KBAs under KBA criterion A1. For a species to qualify for an AZE site there are three criteria which must be met: 

1. Endangerment: An AZE site needs at least one Endangered (EN) or Critically Endangered (CR) species, as assessed on the IUCN Red List.
2. Irreplaceability: An AZE site should only be designated if it is the sole area where an EN or CR species occurs (contains >95% of the population).
3. Discreteness: The area must have a definable boundary.

AZEs and KBAs are of high importance for conservation policy. They are regularly used as a tool for decision making by governments, the financial sector and the corporate sector to minimise biodiversity loss and negative impacts. AZEs and KBAs are also used regularly by donors and NGOs to ensure conservation effort is focussed where it will have the greatest impact for nature. One of the ways the data is made available to decision-makers is through the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT). 

Project Progress

The Global Tree Assessment is assessing the conservation status of all the world’s tree species. Over 80% of trees have now been assessed on the IUCN Red List meaning that trees are a comprehensively assessed group. The information produced through the Global Tree Assessment can be used to ensure that trees are better represented in AZE and KBA sites. There are over 10,000 Endangered or Critically Endangered tree species and many of these have the potential to be AZE tree species. Therefore, we have devised a methodology, based on the IUCN Red List assessment data, to identify which trees are highly likely to qualify as an AZE trigger species. The methodology has now been published in Conservation Science and Practice, a journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. 

The species identified as potential AZE species in this methodology can then potentially be incorporated into the KBA database as trigger species under criteria A1e. We are working with partners around the world to assess KBAs to include these tree species as triggers. The potential AZE trigger species list can also be used in conservation prioritisation as these are highly threatened species found in only one site. 

Project Outputs

Each year there are IUCN Red List updates where more species have assessments published. We aim to rerun the methodology for identifying potential AZE species after each IUCN Red List update. Following the methodology and using the IUCN Red List version 2024-1, 3,544 tree species have been identified as potential AZE trigger species.

This information has been shared with partners in several countries, including Colombia, Mexico, India, Peru, Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Madagascar. This information has been provided to feed into national initiatives to establish KBA (and AZE) sites. We have been working with project partners to add trigger species in the KBA database. 

We have also created country factsheets to give an overview of the number and distribution of tree species which trigger AZEs. Thus far these have been created for the following countries: Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, Mexico and Madagascar. 

Useful links and resources