Status of plant and animal species
The legal protection that is in place for various species is not always commensurate with the seriousness of the threat to them.
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Current situation
The Flora and Fauna Act (Flora- en faunawet) provides legal protection for all birds, amphibians, reptiles, bats and almost all other mammals, as well as to a number of vascular plants, fish and several other species of animal. Most of the 35 000 species that live in the Netherlands have not been accorded any legal status, however. Of the many types of insects, for example, only a handful of butterflies, dragonflies, ants and beetles are protected.
According to the Birds Directive, all native European birds are protected, while the Habitats Directive protects the birds listed in its Annex IV. The species listed in the two European directives are also protected under the Flora and Fauna Act.
Certain species also have a specific status as Red List species or as species covered by a species protection plan. Species are placed on a Red List when they are endangered, i.e. rare or declining in number. A restricted number of species, most of them endangered, are covered by species protection plans, which specify the measures needed to ensure their survival.
The legal protection that is in place for species is not always commensurate with the seriousness of the threat. Some species are protected but not endangered. For example, almost all species of amphibians and mammals are protected, but not all are also endangered (see the figure). Conversely, there are endangered species that are not protected; for example, although many fungi and lichens are endangered, none are protected.
Technical note
The number of species is shown as a percentage of the total number of species in the group in the Netherlands.
The list is based on Annex IV to the Habitats Directive and on the official Red Lists published in the Government Gazette (Staatscourant).
