6.1.2. Conservation Status

According to Oliva-Paterna et al. [87], the number of natural populations of *V. hispanica* is 10, five of which are considered to be in a good state of conservation. Caiola et al. [55] reports four populations in the estuaries, but according to Natura 2000 reports, the species is present in 16 sites, 13 of which are coastal lagoons (Table 3). Despite the discrepancy in the information, the number of natural populations is still dramatically low, and, in fact, the threat level is critically endangered. The general conservation status is unfavourable/bad [101].
