The threat of extinction is a key criterion for prioritising the conservation of New Zealand’s indigenous biodiversity. Key international and national threat classifications are described below:

• International
• National
  

INTERNATIONAL

IUCN Red list
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has developed the Red List programme to classify threats to species survival:

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007

IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants 1997

NATIONAL

New Zealand Threat Classification 2002
The Department of Conservation (DOC), with input from others, has published a new system to categorise New Zealand’s indigenous species according to their threat of extinction, and an accompanying list of threatened species.

Classifying species according to threat of extinction - a system for New Zealand, by Janice Molloy, Ben Bell, Mick Clout, Peter de Lange, George Gibbs, David Given, David Norton, Neville Smith and Theo Stephens (2002), Threatened Species Occasional Publication 22, 26 p, Department of Conservation, Wellington.

New Zealand Threat Classification System lists 2005, by Rod Hitchmough, Leigh Bull and Pam Cromarty (compilers), Department of Conservation, Wellington.

Copies can be purchased from DOC Science Publications.

Setting priorities for the conservation of New Zealand's indigenous plants and animals 1994 (2nd edition)
This classification was prepared by Janice Molloy and Alison Davis for the Department of Conservation (DOC) and used to support conservation management planning and advocacy. Although never formally published, copies are available in some libraries (i.e. copies are not available for purchase from DOC Science Publications). The New Zealand Threat Classification now provides the basis for the definitive lists of threat status of New Zealand biota (see above).

Last revised 25/10/2005