Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
AYBL has gone from strength-to-strength since we started it three years ago. Having recently added BOA to the group and expanded our HQ to meet growing demand, it feels like the perfect time to introduce Lewis’ wealth of expertise to the business, in what is sure to be an exciting new chapter. Numerous species groups have been comprehensively assessed, and as such we have been able to make key findings concerning the world’s biodiversity,” he says. “For example, the IUCN Red List shows that 41% of amphibians, 27% of mammals, 21% of reptiles and 13% of birds are threatened.” Menon NK, Shanafelt TD, Sinsky CA, et al. Association of physician burnout with suicidal ideation and medical errors. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(12):e2028780. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.28780 For ocean experts the need for change is particularly evident, says Guillermo Ortuño-Crespo, co-chair of the IUCN high seas specialist group. The red list was primarily developed for terrestrial monitoring, later adapted for marine environments, and assessments systematically fail to reflect marine-specific threats, such as overfishing, meaning species such as yellowfin tuna are assessed as “least concern” despite Indian Ocean fisheries plunging to the brink of collapse, he says. Nafilyan V, Morgan J, Mais D, et al. Risk of suicide after diagnosis of severe physical health conditions: a retrospective cohort study of 47 million people. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe. 2023;25:100562. doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100562
The brothers teamed up with fashion influencer, Alice Cross, in June 2020 to form Because of Alice. Created in 1964, the list has been hailed by many as a vital resource that has acted as a catalyst for species conservation. It has, however, also been criticised by some for its slow pace of assessment and data gaps. After nearly six decades, just 2% of the world’s species have been assessed, skewing toward well-known charismatic species such as big cats and apes, research has shown. Species listed as “data deficient” are twice as likely to be threatened but are less likely to get funding compared with species that have been assessed as threatened – with some arguing such species should be automatically classified as “ assumed threatened”. Ruben Dario Palacio, a biologist and the paper’s lead author, found first-hand how the red list can divert attention and funding from where conservationists believe it is needed most. There are populations and species that will decline or disappear because we are putting uncritical faith in a single all-powerful list Ruben Dario Palacio, biologist
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The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has never been intended for use a sole means to set conservation priorities, as anyone who has read the Red List Categories and Criteria document will know,” adds Rodriguez. The Edgerton brothers and Lewis Morgan first met at school, where they developed a longstanding friendship. A jaguar in the Sierra de Vallejo in Nayarit, Mexico. While jaguars are labelled as not threatened, scientists say that assessment ignores vulnerable subpopulations. Photograph: Alejandro Prieto/2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Along with the limitations of listing itself, the authors say there is a problem with major organisations that favour funding for species in higher threatened categories.
Gonzalez, who is co-chair of GEO BON, a global network of thousands of researchers dedicated to improving how biodiversity is measured, agrees that the red list remains one of the few historical sources that will continue to provide “incredibly valuable” data covering the past five decades. But on its own it is not fit for the purposes it is now required to perform, he adds. A new paper co-authored by Hughes expresses a range of concerns that some scientists and conservationists on the frontline have about the red list, accusing it of providing assessments which can be unreliable and in some cases biased, while occupying an outsize role in global decision-making. Jon Paul Rodriguez, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, says that while it does not contain all the world’s species, the red list is the most complete existing source of information on the extinction risk of species globally.Women’s gymwear brand AYBL is set to accelerate its ambitious expansion plans following a significant investment from Gymshark founder Lewis Morgan.
Progress has, thankfully, happened fast from a time where the word of white scientists was often taken more seriously than that of scientists of colour, says Sundar. However, IUCN assessments continue to take lessons learned in Europe or America, and impose them worldwide “We are now seeing what can only be called a colonial notion of conservation,” he says. Palacio says this was due to a flawed red list assessment – which did not assess population levels, nor explicitly consider key concerns, such as habitat fragmentation or the climate crisis. Instead of spending on the manakin, he was told the funds could go toward other species such as the Ruiz’s robber frog, a species that is already well-protected. Anyone who has watched a David Attenborough documentary will probably have encountered red-list assessments, intended as a “barometer of life”, showing the status of global biodiversity. The red list sorts the species of the world into nine categories of extinction risk, from “extinct” through “endangered” to “least concern”. Reiss Edgerton said: “I’ve known Lewis for over 20 years, so we’re in the fortunate position to already have the foundations of a relationship based on trust – something that was essential when considering teaming up with an investor. AYBL was founded in 2018 by brothers Reiss and Kristian Edgerton from the living room of their Bromsgrove home.Awan S, Diwan MN, Aamir A, et al. Suicide in healthcare workers: Determinants, challenges, and the impact of COVID-19. Front Psychiatry. 2022;12:792925. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.792925 Let’s say the IUCN red list disappears tomorrow. What instrument, what tool are we going to use to see if we’ve met our goals on threats to biodiversity?” says Ortuño-Crespo. “I think the best thing that we could do at this stage is have an honest, open conversation about what works really well on the IUCN red list and what works terribly. Just lay it all out. No judgment, no egos.”
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