Plants and the products derived from them, such as food, fuel, fibres and building materials have huge economic importance to humans. Many medicinal products are also derived from plants such as Taxol, a chemotherapy drug that is produced from the Endangered tree Taxus contorta.
The ability of plants to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replace it with oxygen is critical to human survival. Plants also cycle water and their roots hold soil together helping to prevent devastating landslides and coastal erosion. Life as we know it would not continue without plants and their conservation is essential.
