RED LIST UPDATES

Established in 1964, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species.

As of IUCN Red List Version 2025-1, global assessments had been published for 2,123 orchid species—about 7% of the approximately 30,000 known orchid species. Of the assessed orchids, 1,062 were classified as threatened with extinction: 274 Critically Endangered, 516 Endangered, and 272 Vulnerable. More than 700 continental African orchid species had been assessed and published, with Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for most of these records.

Assessment gaps

"At the geographical level, Sub-Saharan Africa is relatively well sampled for the Global Red List, whereas South and Central America and tropical Asia are poorly sampled. With the existing Red List assessments, levels of threat vary widely between tribes and subtribes." Fay et al. 2025 (Biodiversity and Conservation)

Assessment coverage of orchid biodiversity. Grey indicates low species richness and low assessment coverage (i.e. low proportion of species with global Red List assessments), blue for low richness and high assessment coverage, yellow for high richness and low coverage, and green for high species richness and high assessment coverage. Countries with no assessments of orchids are shown in white. From Fay et al. 2025 (Biodiversity and Conservation).

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