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Conservation Dependent (LR/cd) was an IUCN category assigned to species or lower taxa which were dependent on conservation efforts to prevent the taxon becoming threatened with extinction. Such taxa must be the focus of a continuing taxon-specific or habitat-specific conservation programme targeted towards the taxon in question, the cessation of which would result in the taxon qualifying for one of the threatened categories within a period of five years.

The category is part of the IUCN 1994 Categories & Criteria (version 2.3), which is no longer used in evaluation of taxa, but persists in the IUCN Red List for taxa evaluated prior to 2001, when version 3.1 was first used. Although using the 2001 (v3.1) system these taxa are classed as Near Threatened, but those that have not been re-evaluated Remain with the "Conservation Dependent" category.

Examples of Conservation Dependent species include the Pyrenean Chamois, Leopard Shark, Black Caiman and Bristlecone Fir.

There are 402 taxa (148 animals and 254 plants) in the 2006 IUCN Red List still classified as Conservation Dependent, all last evaluated in 2000 or prior. The animal taxa are made up of 110 species, 33 subspecies (all mammals), 4 species populations, 1 subspecies stock (Blue Whale North Pacific stock^[1]), and the plant taxa are made up of 238 plant species, 10 subspecies, and 6 varieties.

Excluding subspecies and subpopulations, there are 63 mammals, 14 gastropods, 12 ray-finned fish, 9 crustaceans, 5 bivalves, 3 reptiles, 3 insects, and 1 shark with this classification. 59 species are listed as being terrestrial, 25 freshwater, 19 marine, and 7 both terrestrial and freshwater. This last group (terrestrial & freshwater) includes crocodile, turtle, and antelope^[2] species.

The largest class of plants with this status is Magnoliopsida (196 species, 7 subspecies, 3 varieties), followed by Conifers (25 sp, 3 ssp, 1 var), and Liliopsida (17 sp, 2 var), which together make up all 254 Conservation Dependent plant taxa.

In this category, only mammal taxa have population trends which are evaluated and known. The Southern Right Whale is the only Conservation Dependent species evaluated with an increasing population. Additionally, 14 species have a stable population, and 19 are decreasing. The remaining species have unknown or unevaluated trends. Of the mammal subspecies with evaluated and known trends: 2 increasing, 10 stable, and 9 decreasing. The two shark taxa are the only non-mammals with an evaluated trend, however the result is merely "uncertain or unknown".

In Australia, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 still uses a "conservation dependent" category for classifying fauna and flora species. Species recognised as "conservation dependent" do not receive special protection, as they are not considered "matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act" [3].

The legislation uses categories similar to those of the IUCN 1994 Categories & Criteria. It does not, however, have a Near Threatened category, or any other "Lower Risk" categories.

As of December 2006, only two species have received the status under the act:

• Orange Roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus)
• Southern Bent-wing Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii bassanii)

No flora has been given the category under the EPBC Act.