ARKive and the search for mollusc imagery

ARKive, the world’s centralised digital library of films and photographs of threatened wildlife species, is calling on all Mollusc World readers to help in the search for films and photographs of endangered molluscs.

A project of UK-based NGO, Wildscreen, ARKive’s objective is to raise public awareness of the world’s threatened species and the need for their conservation through the power of wildlife imagery.

To date, ARKive has created digital multi-media profiles for over 5,000 species, digitising and storing more than 38,000 still images and over 100 hours of moving footage, from over 3,000 contributors, including the BBC, National Geographic, and a wide variety of photographers, scientists and conservationists. These important audio-visual records are being preserved and maintained for the benefit of future generations, and are made freely available for noncommercial awareness-raising and educational purposes via the ARKive website www.arkive.org. The ARKive website regularly receives over 30,000 visits a day from around the world, with visitor demography ranging from research scientists, conservationists, educators to the general public.

Having recently become a formal partner of the IUCN Red List, ARKive is collaborating with the IUCN Species Programme and the Species Survival Commission to find photos, and films for as many of the threatened species on the IUCN Red List as possible. All images sourced under the partnership will also be made available for use in IUCN Red List activities. The immediate aim is to compile audio-visual profiles for those c. 18,000 species most at risk of extinction (CR – VU), including all 1036 threatened mollusc species.

Despite being one of the most abundant invertebrate groups on the IUCN Red List, the lack of readily available media has left the soft-bodied denizens of the planet comparatively underrepresented on ARKive. However, with you’re help, it is hoped that ARKive will become home to the most comprehensive online collection of still and moving images of mollusc species. If you have films or photographs of any Red List molluscs, or indeed of any of the world’s threatened species, then ARKive would be delighted to hear from you.

Contact the ARKive team at: arkive@wildscreen.org.uk

Please note that ARKive does not sell photographs, but rather the ARKive website acts as a showcase for image providers, displaying copyright and contact details with every image, as well as links to each media donor’s own web activities.

Dlinza pinwheel - Trachycystis clifdeni

Photo: Dai Herbert - Natal Museum