[1] The project was launched in 2000 by Kevin Kelly, Stewart Brand and Ryan Phelan.
[2][3] Along with other similar efforts, the All Species Foundation was promoted as an important step forward in expanding, modernizing and digitizing the field of taxonomy.
[5] In 2007 the project ceased activity and "[handed] off [its] mission to the Encyclopedia of Life".
An open letter expressed concern over the species problem, a fundamental issue in taxonomy of what exactly defines a species.
The letter argued that failing to acknowledge and account for this fundamental issue could undermine the use of the database for conservation and biodiversity preservation.