A new GB Red List for vascular plants has just been published, providing a comprehensive revision of the previous (2005) List. Red Lists use internationally recognised criteria to assess threat status, and are crucial in providing the evidence which underpins nature conservation and helps prioritise future action. Of the 1,720 species evaluated for the new List, 434 species (i.e. 26%) were assessed as threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable) and a further 140 as Near Threatened. The new List is based on around 50 million plant records collected by thousands of volunteer members and supporters of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI). Their records, collected between 1930 and 2019, fed into three national plant distribution atlases, the most recent of which was published in 2023. The 1,720 species evaluated for the new Red List are all either native plants or archaeophytes (species which were introduced to Britain and Ireland before AD1500). Prof Paul Ashton, BSBI President, said : "Although the situation seems bleak, the good news is that there are still many areas where our wild plants continue to flourish, and we now have the evidence to better understand which species are being lost, why this is happening and what needs to be done to assist recovery. Our wild flora has countless benefits for individuals, for communities and for the economy, and the increasingly urgent task now is for the Government to act on the evidence presented in this Red List, and to fully engage with conserving and restoring our wild flora”. https://www.channel4.com/news/brita...hid-brought-back-from-the-brink-of-extinction https://bsbi.org/gb-red-list-for-vascular-plants
Here's to hoping! But the current government has been bought by people for whom nothing but money matters, so I am very pessimistic :-((
