Red Data/The Red List of Threatened Species

The Mediterranean-rim countries hold around 400 million people and 135 million of them live on the coast. A steady migration towards coastal areas, specifically in the south and east of the Mediterranean, is causing pressure on the coastal environment and, more importantly, on its biodiversity. In this second Mediterranean regional assessment, all the reptile and amphibian species existing within the region of study have been evaluated for their global conservation status.

The Mediterranean-rim countries hold around 400 million people and 135 million of them live on the coast. A steady migration towards coastal areas, specifically in the south and east of the Mediterranean, is causing pressure on the coastal environment and, more importantly, on its biodiversity. In this second Mediterranean regional assessment, all the reptile and amphibian species existing within the region of study have been evaluated for their global conservation status.

Numerous scientific studies show that biodiversity in Europe has been declining rapidly for some time and that this pattern has been matched by the great periods of expansion and intensification of land use. This first assessment of the Red List status of Europe’s and the European Union's mammals shows us that 15% of our species are threatened with extinction, 27% were identified as declining and another 33% had an unknown population trend.

The Mediterranean-rim countries hold around 400 million people and 135 million of them live on the coast. A steady migration towards coastal areas, specifically in the south and east of the Mediterranean, is causing pressure on the coastal environment and, more importantly, on its biodiversity. In this second Mediterranean regional assessment, all the reptile and amphibian species existing within the region of study have been evaluated for their global conservation status.

Freshwater in the Mediterranean basin is of huge economic, environmental and livelihood importance. However, with a growing population and an increasing number of tourists, the freshwater resources are under great pressure. Since the threatened status of plants and animals is one of the most widely used indicators for assessing the condition of ecosystems and their biodiversity, an assessment was undertaken for freshwater fish in this region.

Over 30 organisations collaborated to produce this publication. It covers 295 terrestrial and marine species and subspecies of mammals, which were assessed within South African borders, excluding Swaziland and Lesotho.