IUCN has produced a series of Fact Sheets showing which EU countries host the highest number of species threatened at the European level. The Fact Sheets present a detailed overview of species threatened at the European level in all 27 EU Member States. The analysis draws upon data from the European Red List which has assessed around 6,000 European species (mammals, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fishes, butterflies, dragonflies, and selected groups of beetles, molluscs, and vascular plants) according to IUCN regional Red Listing guidelines. Assessments of pollinators, marine fishes, birds and medicinal plants are currently under development.

The analysis shows that the highest share of species threatened in the European Union can be found in the Mediterranean region which hosts most of Europe's biodiversity. Spain, Portugal and Greece host the highest proportion of species threatened with extinction at the European level. Of the 2,032 species assessed which occur in Spain, 21% are considered threatened at the European level. Fifteen percent of the 1,215 European species occurring in Portugal are threatened, and the same is true for 14% of the 1,684 European species found in Greece.

Of the species assessed so far, freshwater species – including fishes, molluscs and amphibians – are at the highest risk, with species such as the European Eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the Freshwater Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) being particularly threatened. The status of terrestrial molluscs, dragonflies and mammals, such as the European Mink (Mustela lutreola) also raises significant concern. Species are mainly threatened by the loss, fragmentation and degradation of their habitat, due in large part to agricultural and urban expansion, construction of dams and water pollution. While effective conservation action in the Mediterranean is needed urgently, the study calls on all EU Member States to take adequate measures to reverse the current population declines and fully implement the EU Biodiversity Strategy.

Conservation works and species can be saved from extinction but a combination of sound research and greater coordinated efforts are needed. The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM is an important tool for prioritising conservation action, guiding policy and preventing continued extinctions.

The Fact Sheets can be consulted here