Overview

• The IUCN’s first national assessment classifies 31 of 146 centipede species as endangered or critically endangered.
• Centipedes act as bioindicators and vital soil regulators by preying on microfauna and keeping wood pest larvae in check.
• Climate-driven drying of soils and waterways worsens the impacts of intensive forestry, tourism pressures and urban sprawl on centipede habitats.
• Almost half of France’s centipede species are endemic or subendemic, meaning their disappearance here would constitute a global extinction.
• None of the threatened centipede or stonefly species currently benefit from targeted legal protection or dedicated conservation programs.