permaculture

[FionaNyx <FionaNyx@aol.com>]

IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED PLANTS

On April 8th 1998 the most comprehensive scientific assessment ever
assembled on the status of the world's plants was released by IUCN -- the
world conservation union.

The publication of the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants marks a
turning point for conservation. The book, an important new conservation
tool, provides baseline information to measure conservation progress and
serves as a primary source of data on plant species. Most importantly
however the IUCN Red List provides the building blocks on which to base
worldwide efforts to conserve plant species and the eco-systems they
inhabit.

There are an estimated 270,00 known species of vascular plants. Of the
species assessed, 33,798 species, or at least 12.5 percent of all known
vascular plants, are threatened with extinction on a global level. These
plants are found in 369 families and are scattered throughout 200
countries around the globe. Of these, 91 percent are limited to a single
country - which links their potential for extinction to national economic
and social conditions.

Plants are the foundation of all life on earth, without which we cannot
survive. As a first, broad look into the global conservation status of our
world's flora, the information contained in the 1997 IUCN Red List of
Threatened Plants is grim. When considered in conjunction with the
findings in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals, which revealed
that 11 percent of all birds and 25 percent of all known mammal species
are threatened, the implications are even more alarming. 

Please visit Eco-Compass on-line at http://www.islandpress.org for an in
depth examination of which taxa and families are affected, which species
have become extinct and which countries face the highest threats. As
always we also provide links to the best related websites and print
resources. 

Island Press is proud to be the US distributer for IUCN publications.
Please visit our site or call 1800 828 1302 for more information about
Island Press and IUCN publications. 

Eco-Compass by Island Press
The Environmental Publisher
1 800 828 1302
info@islandpress.org
http://www.islandpress.org