Biodiversity Data Use

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species provides a robust and transparent framework in the form of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria for estimating the risk of extinction of all taxa (excluding microorganisms and taxa below subspecies) across all systems - marine, terrestrial and freshwater. It is an internationally recognised standard that can be applied at global, regional and national scales and is acknowledged as a key tool for assessing progress towards achieving biodiversity targets as set out in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

All species have a probability of going extinct due to random events. However, some species have a higher probability of extinction due to a number of determining factors such as population trends, range and threats faced by the species. The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria provides a framework against which this extinction risk can be assessed.