Conservation-dependent species

Conservation status by IUCN Red List category
Extinct
Extinct (EX) Extinct in the Wild (EW)	(list) (list)
Threatened
Critically Endangered (CR) Endangered (EN) Vulnerable (VU)	(list) (list) (list)
Lower Risk
Near Threatened (NT) Conservation Dependent (CD) Least Concern (LC)	(list) (list)
Other categories
Data Deficient (DD) Not Evaluated (NE)	(list)
Related topics International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) IUCN Red List NatureServe status Lists of organisms by population
Comparison of Red list classes above and NatureServe status below

A visualization of the categories in the no-longer used "IUCN 1994 Categories & Criteria (version 2.3)", with conservation dependent (LR/cd) highlighted. The category was folded into the "near threatened" category in the 2001 revision, but some species which have not been re-evaluated retain the assessment.

A conservation-dependent species is a species which has been categorised as "Conservation Dependent" ("LR/cd") by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), i.e. as dependent on conservation efforts to prevent it from becoming threatened with extinction. Such species must be the focus of a continuing species-specific and/or habitat-specific conservation programme, the cessation of which would result in the species qualifying for one of the threatened categories within a period of five years.

The category is part of the IUCN 1994 Categories & Criteria (version 2.3), which is no longer used in evaluation of taxa, but persists in the IUCN Red List for taxa evaluated prior to 2001, when version 3.1 was first used. Using the 2001 (v3.1) system these taxa are classed as near threatened, but those that have not been re-evaluated remain with the "Conservation Dependent" category.

As of December 2015, there remains 209 conservation-dependent plant species and 29 conservation-dependent animal species.

Examples of conservation-dependent species include the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), the sinarapan, the California ground cricket, and the flowering plant Garcinia hermonii.

Conservation-dependent animals

As of December 2015, the IUCN still lists 29 conservation-dependent animal species, and two conservation-dependent subpopulations or stocks.^[1]

Mollusks

Arthropods

Fish

Reptiles

Mammals

Subpopulations and stocks

• Bowhead whale (1 subpopulation/stock)
• Northern blue whale (1 subpopulation/stock)

EPBC Act

In Australia, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 still uses a "Conservation Dependent" category for classifying fauna and flora species. Species recognised as "Conservation Dependent" do not receive special protection, as they are not considered "matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act".

The legislation uses categories similar to those of the IUCN 1994 Categories & Criteria. It does not, however, have a near threatened category or any other "lower risk" categories.

As of December 2006, only two species have received the status under the act:

• Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus)
• Southern bent-wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii)

No flora has been given the category under the EPBC Act.

See also

• Conservation-reliant species
• IUCN Red List conservation dependent species, ordered by taxonomic rank.

References