Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 83 (4): 511-529, 2010
REVIEW ARTICLE
Review of the species classification in categories of threat in Chile
Since 1985, the Chilean government with the participation and support of different
specialists in plant and animal conservation, started the publication of checklists (i.e. red books) of plant (1985) and animal species
(1987) with high to moderate risk of extinction due to human activities (i.e. threatened species). The seven categories of threats used in
these publications matched those used by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1982; nonetheless, for the
flora there was matching only in five of the categories used. In 1994, the Law 19300 on the General Bases of the Environment
established six categories of conservation status. The regulations for the classification of the wild species in Conservation categories,
enacted in 2005, defined these six categories, which resulted from a combination of those proposed by the IUCN in 2001 and 1982.
The generation of this hybrid system, which is not fully comparable with that of the IUCN (2001) and widely used in the rest of the world,
has severely restricted the possibility of classifying species with a threat level lower than “Vulnerable”. Further complications were
generated due to the definition of conservation categories that appeared in the Laws 19473 (1996) regulating the hunting activity and
20283 (2008) supporting the native forest recovery and forestry development. The Law 20417 (enacted in January 26, 2010) modified
the Law 19300 and incorporated the categories recommended by IUCN. Currently, the State requires adapting several legal bodies to
advance in the knowledge of the conservation status of the nation’s flora and fauna, and consequently, ensure the implementation of
effective efforts to protect our biodiversity.
Key words:
categories of
conservation, endangered species, extinction risk, threatened species, vulnerable species
