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PLANT CONSERVATION

Without plants, there is no life. The functioning of the planet, and our survival, depends on plants. . . . Our vision is of a positive, sustainable future where human activities support the diversity of plant life and where in turn the diversity of plants support and improve our livelihoods and well-being.
Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 20112020, Convention on Biological Diversity

PREFACE

A 2020 Vision for Plant Conservation


Without plants, humans would not exist. Plants created the world in which our ancestors evolvedand plants have always been, and always will be, the only renewable, sustainable supply of all our needs. The reason they are able to do this is that about 1.2 billion years ago a single-celled organism press-ganged another organism into its service. This unwitting volunteera cyanobacteriumhad come up with a neat trick. It used the suns energy to combine the water in which it was living with the carbon dioxide dissolved in that water and made some very useful stuff out of these abundant raw materials. Since that time, plants crept out of the water, invaded land, and have become complex, multicellular organisms. On the back of their successes arose the animal kingdomthat includes us. The clear result of this in our lifetime is that the future of Homo sapiens, and others, of course, is dependent upon the future of the plants. As important as it is to you to look after your bank accounts and, on the larger scale, support our banking systems, it is as important to look after biological systems. Plants have given us almost everything that we need; they have provided what we need not only to survive on planet Earth, but to do so in comfort. They provide us with food and drinks, their bres are used to build houses and create cloth, and half of the chemotherapies against cancer are derived from plants. Clearly, there is the sheer beauty of them, as well as our desire to preserve our current standard of livingand our cravings make a considerable contribution this, such as a very pleasing chocolate bar you might have just eaten, in which case your brain would be telling you, in no uncertain terms: plants are very important.

PREFACE

To help in the grand strategies and ongoing work to ensure that we Homo sapiens survive and that what we cherish is protected, I wrote this book. It is my desire to put the record straight: so much of the news about plant conservation is negative and I wanted to show how much positive and effective activity is taking place around the world. Plant products are very important, are the basis of human civilization; and if we do not look after them our childrens futureand, yes, even our futurewill be very uncomfortable. I also wanted to show how we can, as individuals, play a part in conservation, preventing the extinction of even one more species. So while so much of conservation work appears to be carried out by government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, when we stop to think about it, these groups are all staffed by individuals playing their parts: eld botanists, reserve managers, horticulturists, ecologists, teachers, both professional and backyard garden-variety gardeners, and othersall of whom, in partnership and individual practice, have skills that are at the centre of so much conservation activity. Yet too many gardeners cannot see how essential their work is, and above all how they can partner their skills and involvement. While we are fortunate to have such a diversity of people caring for and having a strong desire to see plant life continue, it would be easy for some things to be missed. It would be very unfortunate, say, if only the attractive plants were conserved, leaving the dull but ecologically more important species neglected. What has become clear, then, and understood to be necessary, is a coordinated strategy that covers all the bases on the playing eld of conservation. This is exactly what we have in the form of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (gspc)and this, of course, could only happen because of a bunch (surely an apt collective noun for us plant lovers?) of people and several groups made it happen. In 1999 the Sixteenth International Botanical Congress was held in the United States, in St. Louis, Missouri, the home turf of the Missouri Botanical Garden. At that meeting there was a great deal of horizon scanning with the impending new millennium starting in the

A 2020 VISION FOR PLANT CONSERVATION

following year. Of the many groups at the congress was one comprising the directors of botanic gardens and similar institutions. Together the directors decided that what was needed was some form of coordinated plan that ensured that all aspects of plant conservation were covered and they had the visionary idea that there should be set targets, and that those targets should be met by 2010. After all, how could we be sure that progress was being made unless there was at least a benchmark against which future activity could be judged? So, in April 2000, a small group of men and women from all around the world met at the botanical garden on one of Spains well-known Canary Islands, Gran Canaria. After just a few days at Jardin Botnico Canario Viera y Clavijo, a four-page document was produced, calling upon the countries that signed the Convention on Biological Diversity to agree to support a target-driven strategy for plant conservation. The strategy specied sixteen targets that fell under ve broad objectives. This was the beginning of what would be called the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. In 2002, slightly revised targets were taken to the meeting of the Conference of the Parties, held in The Hague, Netherlands. This event initiated the biggest, most unique step forward in conservation to date. Never before had the vast majority of the worlds governments signed themselves up to a set of measurable targets in the conservation of a major group of organisms. Governments might like setting their departments targets, but here were self-inicted targetsand if there are targets, then there is a possibility of failure for all of the participants. There was no precedent and, to date, no global strategy for the conservation of mammals or birds or butteries. With plants at the bottom of every terrestrial food chain, and at the heart of every food web, this was a very exciting moment for all conservation (not just the conservation of the green stuff ). When 2010 arrived, successes and failures were assessed. This took place at the Tenth Conference of the Parties in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture,

A food web
A hedge is the base of this food web. Invertebrates live on the hedge, pollinating the owers when taking nectar. Birds eat the invertebrates and the fruit produced by the hedge. Small mammals such as voles eat the fruit and the invertebrates. Owls eat the small mammals.

Japan, where delegates to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted an updated version: the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 20112020. Now, you may be wondering what are these ve objectives and sixteen targets? The answer is in the very bones of this bookor, more aptly put, the lignin, the supporting substance providing a woody rigidity to plants. In this book, plant conservation and what you can do are presented in parts and chapters that broadly follow the objectives and targets of the gspc 2020 vision. The sixteen targets of the rst round of the gspc under ve broad themes were set to be hit by 2010, and these covered all the areas of plant

A 2020 VISION FOR PLANT CONSERVATION

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conservation that we must address. As I see it, we hit seven targets; we missed another seven, but by a known amount; two of the targets were missed completely, but this was due to unknown unknownswhich are now known unknowns, and that in itself is progress! While plants do not grow everywhere, where they do grow they are being regularly harvested more quickly than they can grow. Furthermore, one quarter of the worlds land is currently under production, and this normally displaces native biology. These two factors are placing increasing pressure on plant species all over the world; many are having difculty nding a suitable habitatand it is predicted that 28 percent of all plant species may no longer exist by 2050.

It would be easy to brush aside international agreements as being so full of hot air that they contribute more to global climate change than they do to action on the ground. Yet this initiative, the vision for 2020, was drawn up by people whose rst and foremost interest is their dedicated work with plants. The majority of them work in gardens, and so by denition can be called gardeners of various sorts. It is not surprising, then, that if you are a gardener, you can and are making a significant contribution to almost all of the targets and objectives and may already be involved with the Global Strategy without realizing it. If you are growing Franklinia alatamaha, you are contributing to target 8. If you are only growing native species in your garden, then you are supporting target 10. If you are trying to eliminate peat from your garden, then you are supporting target 12. Very few of us are going to be able to contribute to every target, but I think that you may be surprised how much you are already doing. And urgent action is unequivocally required if we are to prevent the loss of our natural heritage. Clearly the problem is too big for any one person or single institution to solve, and we all know how this can lead

2020 STRATEGY
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation includes ve objectives and sixteen targets for the year 2020: 1. Describe and document plant diversity. TARGET 1 Compile an online Flora of all known plants TARGET 2 Assess the conservation status of all known plant species TARGET 3 Develop and share information, research, and methods needed for implementing this strategy 2. Urgently and effectively conserve plant diversity. TARGET 4 Protect at least 15 percent of each ecological region or vegetation type TARGET 5 Protect at least 75 percent of the most important ecosystem regions TARGET 6 Manage at least 75 percent of production and croplands for sustainability and biodiversity TARGET 7 Protect at least 75 percent of known threatened species in situ TARGET 8 Protect at least 75 percent of threatened species ex situ and make at least 20 percent available for recovery and restoration programmes Conserve 70 percent of the genetic diversity of crop plants, their wild relatives, and economically valuable plants while preserving indigenous and local knowledge and practice TARGET 10 Prevent biological invasions and manage important areas of plant diversity that are invaded
TARGET 9

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3. Use plant diversity in a sustainable and equitable manner. TARGET 11 Protect wild ora from overcollection TARGET 12 Source wild-harvested, plant-based products sustainably; dont manufacture products from wild plants faster than the plants can regrow TARGET 13 Maintain and conserve indigenous and local knowledge associated with plant resources 4. Promote education and awareness about plant diversity, its role in sustainable livelihoods, and importance to all life on Earth. TARGET 14 Communicate the importance of plant diversity 5. Develop the capacities and public engagement necessary to implement this strategy. TARGET 15 Train enough people TARGET 16 Establish or strengthen institutions and plant conservation networks to achieve the targets

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PREFACE

to a sense of gloom and defeatism. Yet it is possible to break the solution down into smaller actionsones which individuals and agencies can successfully tackle. This book examines the most crucial areas of plant conservation in order to show the work that each of us can do toward preventing further and greater plant extinctions. It is written for gardeners, plant lovers, nature lovers, biology students, conservationists, backyard activistsall who want to know how to contribute and work toward a 2020 vision of plant conservation.

2020 STRATEGY
TARGET 3 Develop and share information, research,

and methods needed for implementing this strategy We need a heroic effort to save the plantsthey give us everything. And many people involved in conservation believe there is no technical reason why another plant species should become extinct. We can all play a part. Now, to startand in order to understand how we came to be so dependent upon a bunch of green stuff, and hence how the loss of plants makes us vulnerable to cataclysmic alterations in our well-beingwe need to go back to the start of present time. On a Thursday 13,700,000,000 years ago . . .

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