Monday 9 July 2007

European Mammal Assessment

The European Mammal Assessment (EMA) is the first comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of mammals at a European level. It was commissioned by the European Commission and carried out by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). There are online fact sheets for each species, including IUCN Red List threat category, range map, ecology information, and other data. Key findings from the Assessment are:

  • 15% of Europe's mammal species are threatened, and a further 9% are close to qualifying for threatened status.
  • A higher proportion of marine mammals are threatened than terrestrial mammals (22% versus 14%).
  • 27% of European mammals have declining populations. A further 32% are stable, and 33% are of unknown population trend. Only 8% of species populations are increasing. A number of these increases are due to successful species-specific conservation action.

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