MORE than a tenth of the world鈥檚 plant species are heading towards
extinction, according to the first fully comprehensive study on the crisis.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, published by the World Conservation
Union this week, includes 33 798 species, of which 380 are extinct in the wild,
371 may be extinct, 6522 are endangered and the remainder are vulnerable or
rare. 鈥淭his is a huge number of species,鈥� says Mark Collins, chief executive of
the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), which compiled the study. 鈥淚t鈥檚
not just an aesthetic effect. This is an assault on the resources that people
depend on.鈥�
The Red List is the culmination of 20 years鈥� work by scores of institutions,
led by the WCMC and the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) in Edinburgh and Kew. The
researchers analysed over 18 000 separate sources of data. Even so, the editors,
Harriet Gillett of the WCMC and Kerry Walter of RBG Edinburgh, believe there are
many threatened species that do not appear in the list: certain parts of the
world such as Brazil and central Africa are little known to botanists and are
under-represented.
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Ninety-one per cent of the species listed are endemic to just one country.
Those growing on isolated islands are especially vulnerable, and are often
pushed out by plants and animals introduced by humans. Many threatened species
are economically significant. For example, a rare Chilean vine, Berberidopsis
corallina, is the basis of a basket-weaving industry, and a
species of Madagascan palm, Ravenea dransfieldii, is used for food. 鈥淚n
any future conservation strategy, species that are economically important will
be clear candidates for priority treatment,鈥� says Gillett.
The Red List makes no attempt to analyse why species are threatened, and
Gillett sees this as the next task. 鈥淚t鈥檚 now crucial to know what the threats
are if we are to work out what action needs to be taken,鈥� she says. Walter hopes
that the Red List 鈥渨ill wake people up to the fact that we spend very little on
conserving plants, yet there are many more threatened plants than threatened
animals鈥�. He estimates that for every dollar spent on animal conservation, a
mere 10 cents goes towards plants.