PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The annexes of the EU Habitat Directive have changed little over the years, with the few changes made relating to successive EU enlargements. Their adaptation has been called for in order to reflect the current state of knowledge and recent progress made, to adequately reflect the current extent of EU territory and adequate inclusion of threats and pressures. The five taxa (species groups) chosen for this project all play key roles in providing ecosystem services. Therefore, assessing the status of these groups in Europe will not only be essential for an update of EU nature legislation, but will also increase our understanding of these species and enable the European Red List to define a more complete ‘barometer of life’.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of the LIFE European Red Lists project was to produce a European Red List (ERL) for bryophytes and pteridophytes; to complete the existing list of terrestrial molluscs; and to assess a selection of saproxylic beetles and vascular plants. The ERL for these species groups would provide a comprehensive overview of their distributions and extinction risks, and provide policy guidance and support for conservation actions. They would also be of value for updating the annexes of the Habitats Directive. The new information would contribute to making the European Red List a more complete ‘barometer of life’. The developed lists would be disseminated among policymakers and the general public.
RESULTS
The LIFE project team produced the European Red Lists (ERLs) of five species groups, for the geographical range of continental Europe (from Iceland in the east to the Urals in the west, and from Franz Josef Land in the North to the Canary Islands in the south).
- European Red List of Bryophytes: The list increased slightly due to taxonomic changes and new species, and finally totalled 1 817 species. The assessments were published on the IUCN Red List website in July 2019. The final ERL of Mosses, Liverworts and Hornworts was published in September 2019. New pages were developed for bryophytes under the Europa website.
- European Red List of Pteridophytes: 194 species were assessed for this ERL (ferns and lycopods). After approval by the IUCN's Red List Unit, these assessments were made publicly available on the IUCN Red List website in September 2017. The final publication of the ERL of Lycopods and Ferns was completed and a press release issued in October 2017. New pages were developed for pteridophytes under the Europa website.
- European Red List of Saproxylic Beetles: The list included 693 species (257 assessed as part of this project). The assessments were published on the IUCN Red List website in January 2018. The final brochure was prepared and a press release was issued in March 2018.
- European Red List of Terrestrial Molluscs: The updated ERL was completed, assessing an additional 1 261 terrestrial mollusc species to the 1 233 species assessed during 2009 and 2011. The majority of these were published on the IUCN Red List website in late 2017, with a small number finalised and submitted to the first Red List update of 2018 in June. The online brochure of this ERL was made available at the beginning of August 2019. Updated text for the Europa website were submitted in September 2019.
- European Red List of Vascular Plants: a) The ERL of Trees, covering all tree species native to the European region, was completed in September 2019 with a total of 454 species assessed. The European endemic tree assessments were published on the Red List website in December 2017, with the non-endemic tree species assessments published in two parts, in December 2017 and June 2018. b) The selected endemic shrub assessments were published to the Red List in December 2017 (with the final five accepted for publication in the June 2018 update), with a total of 262 endemic shrubs assessed. The ERL of selected endemic shrub brochure was published online in August 2019.
Access databases for the ERLs were submitted to the European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment database. A press release was issued on 27 September 2019 to announce the joint launch of the ERLs of bryophytes, trees, shrubs and molluscs as part of the project’s final event.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).
