Biodiversity crisis: Scientists planning first ever complete list of all animals and plants on Earth, in effort to halt extinctions

As worsening trends reveal plight of various flora and fauna, a comprehensive directory of all known life could help authorities and researchers understand and protect natural world, writes Harry Cockburn

A knobbed hornbill. At the moment there is no single complete list of all the world’s plant and animal species (Getty )

A new effort is underway to create an overarching list of all the world’s plant and animal species.

Currently there is no single compendium of all of our planet’s species, with some types, such as mammals, the focus of numerous indexes, while other groups are not represented on lists at all.

A comprehensive catalogue of every species will help conservationists, scientists, governments and other organisations understand and protect the biodiversity on Earth.