Accredited official statistics

Status of species of European importance

Updated 10 December 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators/status-of-species-of-european-importance

Last updated: 2024

Latest data available: 2019

In converting this indicator from pdf to html several small errors were discovered and these have now been corrected. In particular, there was a species in the “unfavourable-unknown” category in 2013 that wasn’t included in the percentages or the charts for that year, as well as an incorrectly stated total number of species.

Introduction

This indicator is based on the results of UK reporting undertaken under a European Directive, and was last updated prior to the end of the Transition Period following the UK’s exit from the European Union (31 January 2020). This reporting requirement has since been translated into the Habitats Regulations on which England is expected to report again in 2026.

Member States of the European Union are required to report every 6 years on the conservation status of habitats and species of community interest (listed in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive). These are habitats and species for which the UK had European level conservation responsibilities.

The assessments needed to conclude whether each species of European importance occurring in England was in a: ‘Favourable’, ‘Unfavourable-Inadequate’, ‘Unfavourable-Bad’ or ‘Unknown’ conservation status. This indicator is based on an evaluation of whether the overall results for the most recent assessment (2019) were better or worse than those for the previous assessments (2007 and 2013).

Data for this indicator can be found in the published datafile. We also produce a similar indicator at the UK scale.

Type of indicator

State Indicator

Type of official statistics

Official Statistic

Assessment of change

Assessment of change in conservation status of species of European importance occurring in England based on the percentage of species in favourable or improving conservation status.

Measure Assessment Time period Result
Conservation status of species of European importance Long term 2007 to 2019 Deteriorating
Conservation status of species of European importance Short term 2013 to 2019 Deteriorating

The long and short-term assessments are based on a 3% rule of thumb. See Assessing Indicators. Article 17 reports are only submitted once every 6 years, thus, the short-term assessment is based on a 6 year period.

Key results

In 2007, 28% of species occurring in England that are listed in Annexes II, IV or V of the Habitats Directive were in favourable conservation status; this figure increased to 41% in 2013 and 37% in 2019 (Figure 1).

The conservation status of 19% of the species was unfavourable-improving in 2007, it decreased to 11% in 2013 and 5% in 2019. The conservation status of 14% of the species was unfavourable-declining in 2007, this increased to 16% in 2013 and 19% in 2019.

Figure 1: Conservation status of species of European importance occurring in England, 2007, 2013 and 2019

Source: UK Habitats Directive (Article 17) report to the EU, 2019.

Notes about Figure 1:

  • The number of species assessed was 80 in 2007 and 83 in 2013 and 2019.
  • The graph is based on the species listed in Annexes II, IV and V of the Habitats Directive, excluding vagrants, which occur in England.
  • The ‘unfavourable-unknown’ category was first introduced in 2019.

Further detail

The indicator is based on an evaluation of whether the results obtained in 2019 were better or worse than those obtained in 2013 (short term) and 2007 (long term). It is likely to take time before species move from unfavourable conservation status to favourable conservation status, so for the unfavourable assessments, an assessment of trend is made to determine if the species is improving, declining, or showing no change. At its simplest (Figure 1), this can be the proportion of species which are favourable, or show an improving trend (that is, favourable, or unfavourable-inadequate but improving, or unfavourable-bad but improving. This applies to 42% of species assessed in 2019, 52% of species assessed in 2013 and 46% of species assessed in 2007; the measure is therefore assessed as declining in both the long and short term.

Figure 1 combines the unfavourable inadequate and unfavourable-bad assessments which show a similar direction of trend. In all 3 assessments, improving and declining trends were assigned where the evidence allowed a conclusion that improvements or declines in the conservation status of habitats were occurring. Thus:

  • Unfavourable-inadequate improving, and unfavourable-bad improving were summed to form the category ‘unfavourable improving’, and
  • Unfavourable-inadequate declining and unfavourable-bad declining were summed to form the category ‘unfavourable declining’.

In 2007, no trend was assigned to those species which were neither improving nor declining. This included both species for which the trend was unknown, and those for which there was no evidence of change. For ease of comparison in the figures, unfavourable-inadequate and unfavourable-bad assessments with no trend conclusion in 2007 were summed to form the category ‘unfavourable stable’; the same term was used for 2013 and 2019 data, but with more confidence that the trend was neither improving nor declining.

Figure 2 provides a breakdown of Figure 1 by showing the number of species in the unfavourable categories which arise from the unfavourable-inadequate or unfavourable-bad assessment categories in 2019. The picture for species is somewhat better than for habitats (see Status of habitats of European importance), in that relatively more species are in favourable conservation status, and relatively more species which are unfavourable are in unfavourable-inadequate status than unfavourable-bad status.

Figure 2: Status of species of European importance occurring in England, 2019

Source: UK Habitats Directive (Article 17) report to the EU, 2019.

Notes about Figure 2:

  • The graph is based on 83 species listed in Annexes II, IV and V of the Habitats Directive, excluding vagrants, which occur in England.
  • Darker red bars show the number of species within a trend which were unfavourable-bad; orange bars show the number of habitats within a trend which were unfavourable-inadequate.

Relevance

Article 17 of the European Union Habitats Directive requires Member States to report every six years on progress made with maintaining and/or restoring favourable conservation status for habitat types and species of community interest. These are a subset of the England habitats and species for which the UK had European-level conservation responsibilities.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the many people who have contributed by providing data and to the many colleagues who have helped produce this indicator.

Technical annex

Background

The indicator shows progress with maintaining and/or restoring favourable conservation status for species listed under Annexes II, IV or V of the EU Habitats Directive in 2007, 2013 and 2019. These are species for which the UK had European level conservation responsibilities. An assessment of status and trends for each species is undertaken every 6 years. Trends in unfavourable conservation status allow identification of whether progress is being made, as it will take many years for some species to reach favourable conservation status. The status assessments presented in this indicator are based on 83 UK species listed in Annexes II, IV or V of the Habitats Directive that are found in England.

The information sources on which the assessments are based vary between species – their quality is documented in the database which underpins the assessments. The changes are largely based on evidence, though expert opinion was used in a few cases where evidence was not available.

The first assessment of conservation status of habitats and species listed in the annexes of the Directive was produced in 2007; a second assessment was produced in 2013; and a third assessment was made in 2019. Each individual species assessment requires information on 4 parameters, which are brought together using an evaluation matrix to form an overall assessment. The parameters are: range, population, habitat for the species; and future prospects.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England have carefully collated and considered a wide range of data, using a robust quality assurance protocol, to come to the conclusion for each species, and to ensure changes, including within category changes, have been consistently and accurately discriminated. These changes are ecologically important, as stabilising a decline in a species, for example, is an important conservation achievement. The information sources on which the assessments are based are quite varied – their quality is documented in the database which underpins the assessments. The changes are largely based on evidence, though expert opinion was used in cases where evidence was not available.

Methodology

The trend in the overall assessment is based upon an integration of the trend informationfor the individual parameters (see links for UK approach). Each assessment concludes whether the species is in one of the following states:

  • ‘favourable’
  • ‘unfavourable-inadequate’
  • ‘unfavourable-bad’ or
  • ‘unknown’

In 2007, the UK reported on 89 species, 80 of which were found to occur in England. In addition, 28 species classed as vagrants or occasional visitors (4 bats, 16 cetaceans, 4 turtles, and 4 seals) to the UK were not fully assessed. Instead a paragraph of information was provided on the occurrence of each of these vagrant species. In 2013 and 2019, the UK reported on 93 species, and collated information on a further 32 vagrants (6 bats, 1 fish, 17 cetaceans, 4 turtles and 4 seals).

The conservation status assessments quoted in this indicator are for 83 species that are found in England, excluding the 32 vagrant species (see Table 1 for a breakdown).

Table 1: Taxonomic breakdown of the 83 species reported in 2019

Taxonomic group Number of species
Amphibians 4
Fish 12
Invertebrates 16
Mammals 29
Plants 20
Reptiles 2

It should be noted that the list of species on the Habitats Directive Annexes was selected with a European emphasis, and therefore only represents a subset of those considered to be of importance for conservation effort within the UK. A full list of these species, together with their individual assessment results for 2007, 2013 and 2019 is presented in the dataset supporting this indicator.

Within the Habitats Directive, species can be listed on one or more of 3 annexes:

  • Annex II: Animal and plant species of Community interest whose conservation requires the designation of Special Areas of Conservation (46 species in the UK, including one vagrant)
  • Annex IV: Animal and plant species of Community interest in need of strict protection (81 species in the UK, including 32 vagrants)
  • Annex V: Animal and plant species of Community interest whose taking in the wild and exploitation may be the subject of management measures (26 species in the UK; no vagrants)

Development plan

Since our previous publication we have adapted the language and visualisations used in this indicator. We are keen to hear from our users about these changes, as well as our published development plan, please email us.

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