Threatened Species Policy (OI1618)

This metric is intended to provide detailed information on the threatened species policy or policies in place but does not evaluate the success with which that policy is implemented.

Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants, and fungi) which are endangered or likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range. The term “threatened” captures multiple levels of threat to species: vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered. Organizations should refer to the glossary for more detail on what is classified as a threatened species.

In addition to describing policies to protect threatened species, organizations are encouraged to footnote details on the threatened species that reside in terrestrial or aquatic habitats affected by the organization's operations, as determined by risk categories (e.g., vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered) developed by recognized authorities such as IUCN (www.iucn.org) or CITES (www.cites.org). IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species provides information about the global extinction risk faced by animal, plant and fungus species, as well as their range, population size, habitat, and conservation measures. CITES provides information on species threatened by international trade. Local endangered species platforms, such as those provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, are also available. Species are categorized in these databases according to their degree of extinction, which suggests a corresponding prioritization of conservation measures for species and their habitats. If reported, organizations should use the common name of each included species. Organizations can compare and verify their categorizations against the lists of the authority they reference. Specialized biodiversity measurement approaches such as IUCN’s STAR can identify which impacts threaten species the most.

Organizations are encouraged to report this metric in conjunction with Conservation Priority Characteristics (PD9009) and Biodiversity Assessment (OI5929).