From Plant Press, Vol. 23, No. 4, October 2020.
-Adapted from the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
The
Plant Conservation Report highlights the initiatives, actions and innovations carried out over the last 10 years to ensure the conservation of plants through the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.
A new report on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) suggests that while the 16 targets of the decades long plan to protect global plant are unlikely to be met, countries have made considerable progress towards achieving many of them. Such progress is the result of actions under the strategy, with several new initiatives developed specifically to address GSPC targets. In the absence of the GSPC, these actions would not likely have taken place.
These actions include the establishment of a World Flora Online and a Global Tree Assessment. The World Flora Online is led by a Consortium of over 40 key institutions (which includes the National Museum of Natural History-NMNH) to create an open-access web-based compendium of the world’s 350,000 species of vascular plants and mosses (GSPC Target 1 - online flora of all known plants). The World Flora Online provides a comprehensive baseline of knowledge on the world’s plants. The Global Tree Assessment, which aims to have completed Red List assessments for all the world’s tree species by 2020 (GSPC Target 2 - assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species), is of fundamental importance in helping prioritize national actions. The Assessment aims to ensure that no tree species becomes extinct, despite showing that currently one in five tree species globally are known to be threatened with extinction. The Global Tree Assessment is managed and coordinated by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) working with the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Global Tree Specialist Group (GTSG). The GTSG has over 80 tree experts from countries all around the world, including members of Smithsonian’s Department of Botany, who are contributing information and carrying out species assessments.
“Plant diversity is crucial in the functioning of all ecosystems,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity. “The decline of plant biodiversity is an illustration of a larger problem in our relationship with the natural world. As we work to achieve the 2050 Vision of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, botanic gardens and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity and fostering stewardship.”
“Like the assessment in the fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation shows that while there has been important progress, we need greater efforts to achieve the GSPC targets. To reach these goals in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, we will need the engagement of all actors.”
