Objective 5:
Building capacity for the
conservation of plant diversity

Plant conservation measures depend on the capacity available to deliver them. This capacity is both limited and uneven in the botanical world.

Plant conservation requires people with a wide range of skills and knowledge: in taxonomy, field botany, ethnobotany, ecology, advocacy, campaigning and many other areas. Although a large number of people indirectly support and assist plant conservation, there are few whose jobs are directly defined in terms of these activities.

Fortunately, Europe has a great tradition of amateur naturalists, who are frequently members of botanical societies, who can support and complement the work of professionals. For example, 250 'flora guardians' in Sweden help to protect 150 species on 1300 sites. This resource needs to be nurtured and developed, and a European overview of available expertise and capacity is required.

Few universities now have traditional botany departments, where taxonomic skills are being taught - thus the lack of taxonomic expertise is a serious problem. The former communist countries often had large botanical infrastructures and supported conventional botany, but these departments are now deeply weakened by lack of resources and funds. The taxonomic workforce is ageing; the infrastructure is poor and training neglected.

It is ironic that the expertise to identify and classify plants and animals is disappearing at precisely the time when the vital importance of biodiversity conservation, which cannot be delivered without that expertise, is increasingly recognised by everyone.

These problems have been summarised as 'the taxonomic impediment', which is being addressed by the CBD through the Global Taxonomy Initiative. Plantlife- The Wild-Plant Conservation Charity in the UK, is one of the few institutions created specifically for plant conservation. The effective implementation of the European Plant Conservation Strategy will depend on the development of appropriate organizational infrastructures to support trained people working with adequate facilities.

Funding is a constraint to plant conservation owing to a lack of awareness of its importance, and finance has been particularly limited for international co-operation. For the implementation of a coordinated and effective plant conservation strategy in Europe, where nations are increasingly agreeing to act through multi-lateral frameworks, considerable additional resources are required, and existing resources need to be better directed.

Further information

Global Strategy for Plant Conservation - targets adopted by CBD COP 6:

• The number of trained people working with appropriate facilities in plant conservation and related activities increased, according to national needs, to achieve the targets of this strategy
  
• Networks for plant conservation activities established or strengthened at national, regional and international levels

Suggested long term European action in the EPCS under this objective:

E42 Assess, country by country, the capacity for plant conservation, to include details of: taxonomists, field botanists, ecologists, ethnobotanists, conservation practitioners, seed biologists, horticulturists, plant geneticists, conservation advocates and campaigners, and environmental lawyers;

E43 Review the botanical expertise of official conservation agencies (government and non government) contributing to plant conservation in each country;

E44 Use the assessment to promote cooperation and expertise sharing between countries, and in funding applications; E45 Renew efforts to ensure funding and institutional support to maintain a core of taxonomists and taxonomic institutions in each country;

E46 Develop a plant conservation role for each botanic garden, in collaboration and with the support of the relevant nature conservation agencies and NGOs;

E47 Implement the Action Plan for Botanic Gardens in the European Union, prepared by the BGCI/IABG - European Botanic Gardens Consortium. (Support the work of the European Botanic Gardens in extending this approach to the rest of Europe);

E48 Consider in each country without an NGO for plant conservation whether the establishment of one would be appropriate, either as a cost-effective delivery mechanism for government-funded conservation work and/or as a campaigning force;

E49 Provide funding support for and urge conservation bodies in Europe (governmental and non-governmental) to become actively involved in the Planta Europa network;

E50 Provide more resources for plant conservation, both nationally and internationally, including by:
. Developing innovative approaches to funding
. Increasing grants from governments and international bodies for botany and plant conservation
. Encouraging further enlargement of the LIFE Regulation for the benefit of plant conservation
. Encouraging the EU to provide more aid from the European Union and its Member States for capacity-building in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g. use of the PHARE and TACIS mechanisms).