Red List for Finnish species

The online service of the Red List of Finnish species 2019, provided by The Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (Laji.fi), is a web portal where it is possible to search, limit and summarize findings for selected groups, habitats and nature types, as well as particular causes for Red List status.

Every ninth species evaluated is threatened

This is also the third time the Red List species assessment was carried out in Finland using the internationally comparable “Red List Categories and Criteria” established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to these criteria one out of nine of the evaluated species are threatened. In Finland there are approximately 48,000 species, and 22,418 (47%) are so well-known that their status could be evaluated. Of these, 2,667 species were assessed to be threatened, corresponding to 11.9 %. The majority of threatened species live in forests (31%), rural biotopes and cultural habitats (24%). These types of habitats are also the most species-rich. However, the single habitat type having most threatened species is found in alpine areas (37.9%). The assessment of threatened species is carried out every ten years in Finland, but birds and mammals were also evaluated in 2015.

Of the species evaluated in 2010, 10.5% were given threatened status, and this has now risen to 11.9%. This negative trend shows us that we have not succeeded in halting the decline facing our country's species. In total, the number of threatened species increased by 420 species compared to the previous evaluation. The situation has genuinely improved for 263 species and deteriorated for 461 species compared to the results from the 2010 evaluation.

The 2019 Red List of Finnish species can be considered to be one of the most comprehensive performed in the world, as sufficient data forming the basis for evaluation has been gathered on almost a half of the approximately 48,000 species in Finland. Many more species than before have been included in this research, most of which are not threatened.

Two years of extensive evaluation work

The work was coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute under the leadership of the Steering Group for Evaluation of Threatened Species (LAUHA), appointed by the Ministry of Environment. 16 organism expert groups assessed the threat status of Finnish species in 2017–2018. As in the previous evaluation, two other expert groups were established for fish and mammals. The assessments for fish were carried out by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), and mammalian assessments were requested from the Finnish Mammalogical Society.

The assessment is a result of the collective work of 170 of our best species experts, researchers in nature conservation and administration, conservators and researchers in natural history museums and staff in research institutes. Volunteer contribution has been given by retired personnel and experienced amateurs.

The key objectives of the steering group have been to guide the organism expert groups in their assessment work, to consolidate the results of the work, and to instruct in the process of prioritizing and allocating resources for the conservation of threatened species.

Assessment based on instructions from the International Union for Conservation of Nature

The assessment of threatened species in Finland 2019 was made according to the evaluation instructions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Before the start of the evaluation work, a national guide based on guides published by the IUCN was compiled for the assessment of the threatened species.

Contact information

Senior Researcher Ulla-Maija Liukko, Finnish Environment Institute (Syke),

firstname.lastname@syke.fi

Senior Ministerial Adviser Esko Hyvärinen, Ministry of the Environment,

Department of the Natural Environment, esko.o.hyvarinen@gov.fi