THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANT DIVERSITY

The diversity of plant life is an essential underpinning of most of our terrestrial

ecosystems. Humans and most other animals are almost totally dependent on plants,
directly or indirectly, as a source of energy through their ability to convert the sun's
energy through photosynthesis. Worldwide tens of thousands of species of higher plants,
and several hundred lower plants, are currently used by humans for a wide diversity of
purposes as food, fuel, fibre, oil, herbs, spices, industrial crops and as forage and fodder
for domesticated animals. In the tropics alone it has been estimated that 25,000-30,000
species are in use (Heywood 1992) and up to 25,000 species have been used in
traditional medicines. In addition, many thousands of species are grown as ornamentals
in parks, public and private gardens, as street trees and for shade and shelter. Another
important role of plant life is the provision of ecosystem services the protection of
watersheds, stabilization of slopes, improvement of soils, moderation of climate and the
provision of a habitat for much of our wild fauna.

While it is generally accepted today that the conservation of all biodiversity

should be our goal, especially through the preservation and sustainable use of natural
habitats, this is an ideal that is unlikely to be achieved and there are convincing
scientific, economic and sociological reasons for giving priority to the conservation of
the major centres of plant diversity throughout the world, especially as

thiswill very often also lead to the conservation of much animal and micro-organism
diversity as well. The concept of identifying centresof diversity and endemism

The idea of seeking out high concentrations of diversity among plants, animals or
both has a long history in biogeography in one form or another. Attention has frequently
been paid to the floristic or faunistic richness of certain areas, such as the tropics of
Asia, Africa and the Americas, the Mediterranean climatic regions, and the
concentrations of species on islands, such as Madagascar and Indonesia. Particular
emphasis has been given to the large numbers of species that are endemic to such
areas. More recently, the concept of sites or centresof high diversity has attracted the
attention of conservationists, both as a tool for helping determine which areas should
receive priority attention, and also as a challenge as to how to undertake the
conservation action necessary. Such efforts to seek out areas of high priority for
conservation have acquired increased urgency in the light of the accelerating losses
throughout the world of natural habitats and the biodiversity they contain, as a result of
human action and the growth of the world's population.

Determining priority areas for plants

The problem of determining priority areas can be approached at different

geographical scales global, regional, national or local. At a global level, Raven (1987)
developed an approach based on analysis of the size of floras that are threatened, and
highlighted the fact that about 170,000 of the world's estimated total of 250,000
species of angiosperms grow in tropical regions of the world, with an estimated 85,000
in Latin America, 35,000 in tropical and subtropical Africa (excluding the Cape), and at
least 50,000 in tropical and subtropical Asia. He drew attention to the remarkable fact
that more than 40,000 plant species about a quarter of total tropical diversity occur in
Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Some of these regional figures have been modified subsequently: for example, the
count for tropical Africa has been reduced from 35,000 to 21,000 in the light of more
accurate assessments (A.L. Stork, pers. comm. to P. Raven 1991) and the figure for
tropical Asia appears to have been under-estimated. The total number of single country
endemics recorded by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre is a remarkable
175,976 species (see Table 1), an estimate which casts doubt on the generally accepted
global total of about 250,000 species.

The selection of sites

The analyses of floristic richness and endemism described above, while providing
useful general indications as to which areas might be considered for priority action,
have severe limitations in that they are based essentially on species richness and
endemism in selected areas, irrespective of the nature, relationships and values of the
species concerned, the ecological diversity of the areas and socio-economic factors.

Nonetheless they give useful pointers. Any top-down approach, no matter how
sophisticated the science,is liable to fail unless full cognizance is taken of the detailed
needs, perceptions, aspirations and political realities of the countries and regions
concerned. We adopted from the beginning a principle of involving local experts and,
wherever possible, national governmental and non-governmental conservation bodies.

The objectives of the Centres of Plant Diversity (CPD) project are: to identify which
areas around the world, if conserved, would safeguard the greatest number of plant
species; todocument the many benefits, economic and scientific, that conservation of
those areas would bring to society and to outline the potential value of each for
sustainable development; to outline a strategy for the conservation of the areas
selected.
These objectives are fully consonant with the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Although the original intention was to select between 150 and 200 sites of global
priority, the total number finally chosen greatly exceeds these figures. In addition to the
234 priority sites selected for Data Sheet treatment, many more sites are treated in
summary paragraphs in the Regional Overviews. By extending the Regional Overviews
in this way, we overcame the problem of making an arbitrary selection of a single site
where several potential sites occur in a particular area.

The criteria and methodology used for selecting sites

The criteria adopted for the selection of sites and vegetation types was based
principally on a requirement that each must have one or both of the following two
characteristics: (1) the area is evidently species-rich, even though the number of
species present may not be accurately known; (2) the area is known to contain a large
number of species endemic to it. The following characteristics were also considered in
the selection: the site contains an important genepool of plants of value to humans or
that are potentially useful; the site contains a diverse range of habitat types; the site
contains a significant proportion of species adapted to special edaphic conditions; and,
the site is threatened or under imminent threat of large-scale devastation. To
qualify for Data Sheet treatment, most mainland sites have (or are believed to have) in
excess of 1000 vascular plant species, of which at least 100 (i.e. 10%) are endemic
either to the site (strictly endemic) or to the phytogeographical region in which the site
occurs. The criteria for the selection of islands treated as Data Sheets were somewhat
different from those used for mainland sites. Many islands have depauperate floras
compared with continental areas, but the level of endemism is often very high.