GBIF Threatened Species
This layer maps the global presence of threatened species — those classed by the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered or Endangered.
Source: GBIF Year: 2026 Category: Transition risks · Sensitive areas · Endangered species habitats Coverage: Global Format: Raster grid (~10 km) Used in risk analysis: Yes — gates Sensitive areas
What it shows
This layer maps the global presence of threatened species — those classed by the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered or Endangered. It highlights where biodiversity that is at high risk of extinction is concentrated, so that activity in these areas can be screened for its potential impact on the most vulnerable species.
How it is built
The layer is derived from species occurrence records held by GBIF (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). Records are quality-filtered, and weak signals — such as survey-track artefacts and isolated, unreliable sightings — are pruned to reduce noise. The resulting set covers roughly 20,311 species, of which 6,269 are Critically Endangered and 14,042 Endangered. Presence is summarised onto a roughly 10 km grid, so each cell reflects whether quality-filtered occurrences of threatened species fall within it.
How to read it
Higher values indicate a greater presence of threatened species within a grid cell; cells with no records indicate no detected occurrences. Areas with concentrations of Critically Endangered and Endangered species warrant closer attention when assessing impacts on biodiversity.
Class thresholds
This is a categorical presence layer, not a continuous physical flux: there is no measured quantity, no unit and no numeric class breaks. Each ~10 km grid cell simply records whether quality-filtered GBIF occurrences of IUCN Red List Critically Endangered or Endangered species fall within it; the only attribute carried is the species' IUCN threat status (CR / EN), which describes extinction risk rather than a graded scale of physical risk.
The trigger is spatial overlap, not a threshold on a value: the layer's proximity rule is a direct geometric intersection (type = "intersection", no distance buffer), flagging the Sensitive areas dimension when a site coincides with a cell holding threatened-species occurrences.
How these thresholds were set. There are no thresholds to set — class membership is the IUCN Red List status attached to each occurrence, taken verbatim from the GBIF download (DOI 10.15468/dl.4pzna7). Darwin applies no classification of its own and no external numeric methodology; its only processing is quality-filtering and pruning of weak occurrence signals onto the 10 km grid.
Source
GBIF.org occurrence download (DOI 10.15468/dl.4pzna7), filtered to IUCN Red List Critically Endangered and Endangered species. Licensed CC0 / CC-BY.
Comparison with the WWF Risk Filter Suite
This layer relates to WWF Biodiversity Risk Filter indicator S14_6 Range Rarity / biodiversity sensitivity, using IUCN threat status. It is occurrence-based, drawn from observation records, which makes it complementary to WWF's IUCN Red List range-rarity surface (which is built from mapped species ranges rather than point observations).
Risk analysis
A site is flagged on a dimension by combining a proximity trigger (this layer) with an activity trigger (the entity's ENCORE pressure/service). Proximity only → Potentially material; proximity and the matching ENCORE pressure/service is material → Very material; neither → Not material.
| Dimension | ENCORE service / pressure | Proximity trigger (this layer) | Activity trigger (entity) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensitive areas | Sensitive area disturbance | Site overlaps / is near the feature | impact ratio ≥ 10%; “Disturbances (e.g noise, light)” pressure ≥ 4; “Introduction of invasive species” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of freshwater use” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of seabed use” pressure ≥ 4; “Area of land use” pressure ≥ 4; “Other biotic resource extraction (e.g. fish, timber)” pressure ≥ 4; “Volume of water use” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of non-GHG air pollutants” pressure ≥ 4; “Generation and release of solid waste” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of toxic soil and water pollutants” pressure ≥ 4; “Emissions of nutrient soil and water pollutants” pressure ≥ 4 |
Generated from darwin/layers/layer-gbif-threatened-species.toml and risk_indicator_pairs.toml (develop).