3. Plant conservation
in a changing world, Suzanne Sharrock, BGCI
The
world’s climate is presently changing more rapidly than at
any time in human history. Such climatic changes are intimately
connected with plants, which harness the energy of the sun through
photosynthesis and maintain ecosystems for all life on earth. According
to recent estimates, more than 100,000 plant species are currently
threatened with extinction. However, the rate of extinction is expected
to increase further as global temperatures continue to rise, and
as many as half of the estimated 400,000 plant species in existence
today may be under threat.
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) of the UN’s
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted by over 180 countries
provides a strong basis for ensuring the viability of plant species
and their habitats. Climate change is however clearly having a demonstrable
impact on plant diversity around the world. Plant distributions
are changing, with consequential ecosystem and human welfare impacts.
Climate change is altering the seasonal timing of the basic functions
of plants. While changes in when a plant flowers and seeds may seem
inconsequential, such changes in fact have a cascading effect on
insects, birds and entire ecosystems.
Recognising the urgent need for action, Botanic Gardens Conservation
International (BGCI), together with the Jardin Botanico Canario
Veira y Clavijo, convened a meeting of the Gran Canaria Group* in
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain on the 10-11th of April 2006.
As a result of the meeting the Group formulated “The Gran
Canaria Declaration on Climate Change and Plant Conservation”.
The Declaration strongly recommends the preparation of an action
plan correlative to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation on
climate change and plants and calls upon governments to take urgent
action to increase protection for the world’s plants.
While recognizing that the need for protection of the world’s
plant diversity in the wild, the Group also agreed that ex situ
collections have a key role to play in securing the conservation
of wild plant species as an insurance policy for the future and
as support for the adaptation of livelihoods to climate change.
Thus botanic gardens have a central role to play in securing the
future of our planet in the face of climate change. Existing in
almost every country in the world, they are the main custodians
of world’s plant diversity and are leading centres for botanical
research, horticultural expertise, conservation and sustainable
use of plants. Furthermore, with over 200 million visitors annually
worldwide, botanic gardens have the capacity to take a lead in heightening
public awareness of climate change and plant conservation.
Much work is already on-going. Botanic gardens are involved in
major seed-banking initiatives, such as the Millennium Seed Bank
of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK (www.kew.org/msbp);
many gardens are collecting phonological information and valuable
data on the behaviour of plants in a changing world, and in some
cases, involving local communities in this monitoring activity –
as for example Project BudBurst in the USA (www.budburst.org).
Others are launching public awareness campaigns and including climate
change in their outreach and education programmes. However, all
these efforts will be in vain if the world’s political leaders
do not take the necessary action at the global level. It is therefore
incumbent on botanic gardens to inform policy and decision makers
about the importance and relevance of their work in conservation
and sustainable use of plants, to ensure that the necessary steps
are taken to conserve the world’s plants and that new national
and international laws create an enabling environment for this work.
For copies of the Gran Canaria Declaration, contact BGCI or download
a pdf version from www.bgci.org/conservation/climatechange/
* The Gran Canaria Group is an ad hoc group
drawn from major national and international organisations, institutions
and other bodies involved in biodiversity conservation. The first
meeting of a Gran Canaria Group was held in April 2000, a meeting
which led ultimately to the development and adoption of the Global
Strategy for Plant Conservation.
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Institut de recherche en biologie végétale
The Montréal Botanical Garden
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