The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (TM)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species contains assessments for just over 76,000 species, of which about two-thirds have spatial data. This spatial data provided below is for comprehensively assessed taxonomic groups. It is important to note that some species such as those listed as Data Deficient are not mapped and subspecies are mapped within the parental species. The data is available as ESRI shapefiles format and contains the known range of each species. Ranges are depicted as polygons, except for the freshwater HydroSHED tables. The shapefiles contain taxonomic information, distribution status, IUCN Red List category, sources and other details about the maps (see metadata document).

Please note that the files are large and download times could be quite lengthy. Please be aware that not all species have spatial data due to Data Deficient species not being consistently mapped and subspecies beginning included within parental species polygons.

For ease of distribution and downloading, the data is divided by taxonomic groups.  Groups that have been comprehensively assessed are those containing >90% species evaluated within the described taxon group.

Freshwater species are mapped to pre-defined river/lake catchment units called HydroBASINS. It is widely accepted that the river/lake catchment is the most appropriate management unit for inland waters.  Freshwater species distribution downloads have been provided in two formats: 

1. Freshwater Polygon Groups: These groups comprise of dissolved species distributions of the HydroBASIN ranges (these generalised or aggregated species ranges are provided for compatibility between the other spatial taxon downloads and reducing the size of the files).
2. Freshwater HydroBASIN Tables: These species range tables contain the HydroBASIN ID's field which can be joined to the HydroBASIN's spatial data.

The data is made freely available to the public for non-commercial use, to help inform conservation planning and other decision making processes (see Terms and Conditions of Use). For commercial use of our data visit IBAT for Business. For more information about the assessment process, see Red List Assessment Process. Please note that unfortunately we cannot provide technical support for use of the data in analyses or general GIS support.

For all enquiries about spatial data, please contact the IUCN Red List GIS Unit.

More information about Spatial data resources here.

Note: A species richness page will be available shortly.