The process of assessment is to categorise the species' risk of extinction. The extinction (or the origin) of species is a part of the natural processes of the earth. During the last decades the improved human activities have implied an increased risk of the species extinction. Based on this fact The Word Conservation Union (IUCN) has developed the IUCN Red List Categories launched in 1994 and improved and revised in the following years. The IUCN Red List Categories reflect the species' risk of extinction and replace other systems based on more subjective threatened species categories.

Silver-spotted Skipper Photo: Anni Nielsen

The difference between the 1994 system and the former ones is that all plant and animal species can now be evaluated. The assessment is based on quantitative and qualitative criteria specified by documentation. The IUCN Red List Categories are developed for classifying species at high risk of global extinction. The 1994 system has been adopted for regional use by means of which homogeneity and comparability in the assessment process at the national level is secured. The assessment process of plants and animal species will be much more homogenous and comparable by the implementation of the 1994 system. The demands for quality and objectivity in the assessment process have increased resulting in more time demanding evaluation of the species against the criteria in order to fulfil the IUCN Red List Criteria. Some groups of organisms have been evaluated against the criteria of the 1994 system and assessments of more species will follow. The aim is to revise the assessments of the plant and animals groups within yearly intervals to reflect the current trends that occur in the state of the species. Please observe, until assessment of the species by use of the 1994 system has been conducted the valid categorisation is the one published in The Danish Red Data Book 1997.

Objective

• to pay attention to species either extinct or threatened,
• to form a basis for the prioterisation of the nature management in Denmark,
• to develop a platform for the nature management and protection nationally and internationally, and
• to fulfil the international obligations laid down in the Convention of Biological Diversity by regular issuing of national Red List on indigenous extinct and threatened species.