Classifying threatened species at national versus global levels

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) criteria for classifying threatened species in Red Lists were constructed to be applied primarily on a global scale. Nonetheless, many nature conservation efforts are conducted at national levels and there is consequently a demand for Red Lists at subglobal scales. In 1999, a working group presented draft guidelines of how to apply the IUCN criteria at such levels. Meanwhile, the 1994 IUCN criteria were the subject of re-evaluation, resulting in the somewhat altered 2001 IUCN criteria. Experiences of applying the suggested guidelines for national Red Lists, particularly from Sweden and Finland, revealed that the system is applicable to a wide range of taxa and geographical scales, even though there are issues that remain to be resolved. A comparison of the classification outcome of species listed both at global and national levels has highlighted some incongruities.