Improving endangered species recovery planning

Extreme data deficiency remains a major barrier to developing objective and measurable recovery criteria and evidence indicates that traditional surrogate approaches are likely to fail.  Established criteria have been criticized for being too low to provide high probability of persistence and for lacking a biological basis. Despite clear theoretical predictions for general risks of small and declining populations, there is little scientific guidance regarding what abundances are sufficient for recovery.  We suggest holistic approach to establishing recovery criteria in which extent, abundance, and threat abatement are integrated and translated into extinction risk yielding an objective and transparent process.