Box 9X Use of the term 'threatened species' in this report

'Threatened species' comprise the categories endangered and vulnerable according to IUCN standards. Endangered species are those whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors, continue operating. Vulnerable species are candidate species, likely to move into the endangered category in the near future. Other IUCN categories, such as rare, insufficiently known, or extinct species have not been included because the causal factors of threat are likely to be more difficult to compare and to interpret.

The following sections of this chapter present in a series of maps the situation of threatened species by country as a percentage of the total number of each species group. Other species are threatened but could not be included because information is not complete. Because of this and the reasons given above, maps in the following section are likely to understate the situation. Due to different approaches by individual countries, direct comparisons between national data can be misleading, indicating the need for international harmonisation of species inventories.