Major landmark in the IUCN Red Lists series as it is the first time that listings of animals and plants have been amalgamated and the first time that the Red List has been produced on CD-ROM. All bird species have been reassessed by BirdLife International, and the Species Survival Commission have reassessed many antelope and bat species, most primate and sharks, all Asian freshwater turtles, more molluscs and many others. The plant Specialist Groups have reassessed all conifers and for the first time have assessed mosses and a large number of carnivorous plants and, in addition, the geographic plant Specialists Groups have provided new assessments for plants in biodiversity hotspots like Cameroon, Mauritius and South Africa.
Combining all the animals and plants into a single list containing assessments of more than 18,000 taxa and the move towards improved documentation of each species would mean that a hard-copy version would run to several volumes. This, combined with the fact that, the Red List will be updated annually, led to the to release the 2000 Red List in electronic format only.