Creating an Online World Flora by 2020: a perspective from South Africa

At the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), which was held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, an updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was adopted as part of the plan of work of the CBD. Target 1 of the GSPC aims to produce an online Flora for all t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biodiversity and conservation 2014, Vol.23 (1), p.251-263
Main Authors: Victor, Janine E., Smith, Gideon F., Turland, Nicholas J., le Roux, Marianne, Paton, Alan, Figueiredo, Estrela, Crouch, Neil R., van Wyk, Abraham E., Filer, Denis, van Wyk, Erich
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biological diversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Commentary
Conservation
Conservation Biology/Ecology
Convention on Biological Diversity
Ecology
Flora
Flowers & plants
Life Sciences
Plant conservation
Studies
Taxonomy
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Summary:At the 10th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), which was held in Nagoya, Japan, in October 2010, an updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was adopted as part of the plan of work of the CBD. Target 1 of the GSPC aims to produce an online Flora for all the plants of the world by 2020. Governments that have ratified the CBD will have to report over the next several years on progress towards achieving this challenging target. Floras are still widely regarded as a means of providing descriptive information and identification tools for the plants that occur in a specified region. Historically, Floras have included identification keys; scientific names with authorship for all taxa known to occur in the area; synonymy; descriptions; distributions within the region in question; specimen citations; habitat; literature references; and illustrations. Of these, nomenclature, descriptions, identification tools, illustrations and distributions are critical components. The approach being taken by South Africa, a biodiversity-rich country, in working towards achieving Target 1 of the GSPC by 2020 is presented and discussed, outlining a methodology that may be of practical use to other countries. We hope this will urge other countries to consider how they might meet this challenging conservation target.
ISSN:0960-3115
1572-9710
DOI:10.1007/s10531-013-0595-0