What is an endangered plant?

Endangered plants are defined to be vulnerable to become extinct in the near future. In Japan, the endangered plants at national level are designated by the Ministry of Environment, and those at regional level are designated by each regional government.

Endangered plants are classified into seven categories according to how they are threatened to extinct in Japan. Criteria.

Category	Definition
Extinct (EX)	no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
Extinct in the Wild (EW)	extinct in its natural habitat
Critically Endangered IA (CR)	Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Endangered IB (EN)	High risk of extinction in the wild.
Vulnerable II (VU)	High risk of endangerment in the wild.
Near Threatened (NT)	Likely to become endangered in the near future.
Data Deficient (DD)	Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of extinction.

*For detailed information, see

IUCN (2016) Guidelines for Uisng the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria

Red Data Books published nationally (Ministry of the Environment, 2000) and by prefectural governments