Sweden’s Red List 2010 is the result of extensive analysis of the survival chances for species that exist in Sweden.
The Red List is as far as possible an objective account of the status of Sweden’s flora and fauna. The categorization in the Red List does not take into consideration the specific need to conserve or take action for certain species, but the analysis aims to strictly quantify the risk of extinction.
The analyses follow the recognised quantative criteria system of the International Conservation Union of Nature to categorize species by their risk of extinction (IUCN 2001). Based on extensive data information, from among others the Swedish Species Information Centre’s databases, official statistics on the status and trends of habitats and influencing factors, expert knowledge on species ecology and aided by a digital expert system developed at the Swedish Species Information Centre, 20.800 species have been assessed. The work was carried out by more than one hundred of the country’s most knowledgeable species experts under the guidance of the Swedish Species Information Centre’s species department. To ensure full transparency in the analyses and the opportunity for other actors to review the assessments and contribute with additional data, the preliminary results were presented on the Swedish Species Information Centre’s website for three months in 2009.
The Swedish Species Information Centre produces the information for Sweden’s Red List, which is then assessed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The hope is that all actors that have an impact on Sweden’s nature: users in the agricultural industries, developers, authorities, conservationists and individuals, will use the Red List as an important factual basis and starting point for their work to sustainably utilise biological resources and conserve biodiversity.