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 The Top 50 Plants Campaign, conceived by the IUCN/SSC Plant Conservation Sub-committee, aims to help save plant species that face a high risk of extinction by providing information to and raising awareness among decision makers, conservation practitioners and the general public. By highlighting a selection of plants that are at the brink of extinction, readers can learn of broader conservation issues and actions needed to save thousands of threatened plant species around the world.
This project draws on the extensive knowledge and expertise of all the IUCN/SSC Plant Specialist Groups in the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC). Each group has been asked to prepare a list of their Top 50 species. The Mediterranean Island Plant Specialist Group, with support from the MAVA Foundation, is leading the pilot Top 50 project. It must be emphasised that these Top 50 species are only a selection of the many threatened with extinction, and that many more are endangered. It is essential that this work be not just a memorial to these plants which are about to disappear, but will promote conservation action.
Written in simple, non-technical language, these profiles should interest policy makers, the media and general public. Each profile, illustrated with a photograph or drawing, includes a description of the plant as well as information on conservation status, distribution, habitat and ecology, economic and cultural value, threats, reasons for decline, conservation actions in place, and actions needed to help save the species.
The Top 50 series is available on this website. The first of the series, The IUCN/SSC Top 50 Mediterranean Island Plants, is also available in printed form and on CD-ROM in English, French and Spanish. Any other Specialist Groups preparing their own Top 50 can post them on this site, although funding, as always, is needed to help cover printing.
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