| Summary: | The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the riskof collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial andfreshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacentregions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of categories andcriteria, and detailed data and expert knowledge from involvedcountries1. A total of 257 benthic marine habitat types wereassessed. In total, 19% (EU28) and 18% (EU28+) of the evaluatedhabitats were assessed as threatened in categories CriticallyEndangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. An additional 12% wereNear Threatened in the EU28 and 11% in the EU28+. These figuresare approximately doubled if Data Deficient habitats are excluded.The percentage of threatened habitat types differs across theregional seas. The highest proportion of threatened habitats inthe EU28 was found in the Mediterranean Sea (32%), followed bythe North-East Atlantic (23%), the Black Sea (13%) and then theBaltic Sea (8%). There was a similar pattern in the EU28+.The most frequently cited pressures and threats were similaracross the four regional seas: pollution (eutrophication), biologicalresource use other than agriculture or forestry (mainly fishing butalso aquaculture), natural system modifications (e.g. dredging andsea defence works), urbanisation and climate change. Even forhabitats where the assessment outcome was Data Deficient, theRed List assessment process has resulted in the compilation of asubstantial body of useful information to support the conservationof marine habitats
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