MBU Initiatives

The Global Marine Species Assessment

The central initiative of the Marine Biodiversity Unit (MBU) is the completion of the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) – assessing the extinction risk of 20,000 marine species for inclusion on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species using the IUCN Categories and Criteria.

Regional Initiatives

Species data and analyses generated by the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) are used by national, regional and international conventions and policy fora around the globe to determine the state of the worlds’ marine biodiversity and resources.

Global Initiatives

Species data and analyses generated by the Global Marine Species Assessment (GMSA) are used by national, regional and international conventions and policy fora around the globe to determine the state of the worlds’ marine biodiversity and resources. 

Key Biodiversity Areas

Over the last three decades, various approaches to identifying sites of significance for biodiversity have been developed. KBAs have proven to be a key tool for guiding decisions on conservation and sustainable management.