Our Mission

Threatened Species of the World is a free online database dedicated to providing useful, up-to-date information on biodiversity conservation and biogeography. Profiles of some 14,000 species and subspecies are currently available within, and we will be continually adding new ones and refining the data. Our approach is a rather unique one: to make this information searchable by location as well as by species name.

But the database is simply one component of our mission going forward. In our effort to make cutting edge research more easily accessible, our online teaching arm will match world-class experts with individual students, while special, customized courses will be available to groups. In a similar vein we also intend to provide direct consultation services to zoos, museums, academic institutions, and businesses.

Research is of course another vital aspect of our work, with a particular emphasis on biogeography and how it relates to the overall conservation crisis. We intend to refine our model of biogeographical Realms and Regions, and to expand it to include an intricate system of Bioregions. Ultimately, we hope to use the resulting maps as the main interface of our database, so that users might quickly search any area of the world – terrestrial or marine – and find the information that they need.   

There is still much to do, and we ask that you bear with us as we endeavor to expand and improve. We hope that you will find our project useful, and that it might eventually become a powerful tool in the fight to save species and habitats.

Matthew Richardson and Branden Holmes