Fifth of the world's plant species under threat of extinction

A recent study by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Natural History Museam has concluded that 22% of all plant species are threatened by extinction, mostly due to human activity.

This is bad news for all of us because plants provide food, water (indirectly), fuel, oxygen, building materials, medicines, and coastal protection (e.g. mangroves), underpin ecosystems that we depend on, and absorb CO2. In short, they are essential.

So far, politicians have only paid lip service to biodiversity (agreeing to targets then missing them by miles), but there now seems to be a sense of urgency. Next month there will be a major conference on biodiversity in Japan. Let's hope governments start taking the subject more seriously and put a halt to the decline in plants AND animals.

See more here about the study. A link for the Nygoya conference.