Targeting plant conservation priorities in the tropics:
the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme
Iain Darbyshire & Martin Cheek
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Important Plant Areas (IPAs)
IPA programme led by Plantlife International since the early 2000s
Contributes to Target 5 of the CBD’s Global Strategy for Plant Conservation:
“At least 75 per cent of the most important areas for
plant diversity of each ecological region protected
with effective management in place for conserving
plants and their genetic diversity”
IPAs identify priority sites for plant conservation on a national or regional scale
A scientifically rigorous but pragmatic approach based on three criteria:
•
•
•
Threatened species
Exceptional botanical richness
Threatened habitats
Promote protection and sustainable management of IPA sites through engagement
with national policy makers, natural resource managers and local communities
IPAs in Turkey
Turkey’s rich plant diversity
• Nearly 9000 native vascular plant species
• 3022 endemic species (34.4% endemism)
• Diverse and rare habitats
• Many threats to biodiversity; 25 threat categories identified
IPA identification and designation
• WWF Turkey, FFI, Univ. Istanbul and a collaboration of 40 scientists
from 20 universities
• 122 IPAs identified and documented 1998-2005 (22 added in 2006)
• Totalling c. 11 million ha (13% of Turkey’s total area)
• 94% of IPAs threatened, over 75% by two or more threat factors
Byfield, A., Atay, S. & Özhatay, N.(2010). Important Plant Areas in Turkey: 122 Key Turkish Botanical Sites. WWF Turkey, İstanbul.
Özhatay, N.(2006). Important Plant Areas along BTC pipeline in Turkey. BTC Şirketi, İstanbul.
Images: Plantlife
IPAs in Turkey: post-identification
9 IPA sites chosen in pilot scheme
OBANET (IPANET) – Volunteer Network for the IPAs in Turkey, supported by the Rubicon Foundation, Netherlands
Volunteer networks trained to:
• monitor rare species and habitats
• support sustainable use and management of natural resources
• take action for IPAs that need protection
http://obanettr.org/default.asp
IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants (2012)
http://threatenedplants.myspecies.info/sites/threatenedplants.myspecies.info/files/SRLIBrochureFINAL.pdf
Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) programme
Caribbean
UKOTs*
Guinea
West Papua
(Indonesian New Guinea)
Uganda
Bolivia
Cameroon
Mozambique
*
Anguilla
B.V.I.
7 countries / regions selected:
Cayman Is.
Turks &
Caicos
Launched in 2015 as part of Kew’s Science Strategy 2015-2020 –
Montserrat
• strong in-country collaborations in place
• on-going research & conservation programmes
• wealth of collections-based data available
Revised IPA criteria for a global approach
A
Threatened
species
Species redlisting
B
Botanical
Richness
Rangerestricted
species
Useful
wild-harvested
species
C
Threatened
habitats
Site-based inventories
Core activities
Speciesrich
habitats
Diversity mapping
Species mapping and
field survey
Identification & mapping of:
•
•
•
Images: Sophie Williams, Imperial College
crop wild relatives
medicinal plants
timber species etc.
Vegetation mapping
Habitat threat assessments
Image: Andre Schuiteman
IPAs and IUCN Key Biodiversity Areas
IPA A1: Globally threatened species
KBA A1: Threatened taxa
IPA A2: Regionally threatened species
KBA A2: Threatened ecosystem types
IPA A3: Highly restricted endemics
KBA B1: Individual geographically restricted species
IPA A4: Range restricted endemics
KBA B2: Co-occurring geographically restricted species
IPA B1: Exceptional species richness within defined habitat
KBA B3: Geographically restricted assemblages
IPA B2: Exceptional number of species of restricted range
KBA B4: Geographically restricted ecosystem types
IPA B3: Exceptional number of species of socio-economic value
KBA C: Ecological integrity
IPA C1: Globally threatened or restricted habitat
KBA D: Biological processes
IPA C2: Regionally threatened or restricted habitat
IPA C3: Nationally threatened or severely declining habitat
potentially matches to global KBA criteria
KBA E: Biodiversity through quantitative analysis
potentially matches to regional / national KBA criteria
provides key data for global KBA assessment
The TIPAs programme in Guinea
A collaboration between:
•
The National Herbarium of Guinea (Gamal Abdel
Nasser University)
•
Ministry of Environment, Water & Forests (MEEF),
government of Guinea
•
Guinée Ecologie (environmental NGO specialising
in citizen science and community engagement)
•
Centre Forestier de N'Zérékoré (conservation NGO
working in Guinée Forestiere region)
•
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
•
Plantlife International
Darwin Initiative: Important Plant Areas in Guinea-Conakry. 2016-2019
GBIF Biodiversity Information for Development fund:
Towards a Red List of the Globally Threatened Plants of Guinea. 2016-2018
Image: M. Cheek
Kew’s work in Guinea
• Kew active in Guinea since 2005 with a fieldwork, research and capacity
building programme
• National Herbarium of Guinea (HNG) established at University Gamel Abdel
Nasser (UGAN), Conakry, ratified in 2009
• Teaching on newly established UGAN MSc. in Biodiversity & Sustainable
Development
• National Plant Red List programme launched in 2012, BID funding in 2016
Establishing the National Herbarium, 2008
• TIPAs programme launched in 2015 at Conakry workshop; Darwin Initiative
funding in 2016.
TIPAs workshop, Conakry, Guinea, 2015
Images: Iain Darbyshire & Charlotte Couch
Guinea: threatened species
• Over 3000 angiosperm species
• Only 210 currently on the IUCN
Red List (7%)
• 44 threatened or nearthreatened
• 16 new species described from
Guinea since 2005; 22 further
species new to science
discovered during field surveys
• Threats from mining, urbanisation
and population growth
Threatened species: preliminary data
based on 273 species
Aim to publish a Red Data Book similar to that for Cameroon
Lipotriche tithonioides (EN)
Guinea: threatened species
Utricularia pobeguinii (EN*)
Fleurydora felicis (VU)
Acalypha guineensis (VU*)
Brachystephanus oreacanthus (VU)
Pitcairnia feliciana
Kotschya micrantha (VU*)
Images: M. Cheek, I. Darbyshire & Canga East Botanical Team
Isoglossa dispersa (VU)
* unpublished assessment
Guinea: threatened habitats
Bowal
Nov 2003
• Seasonally wet treeless habitat over ferricrete or
sandstone
• In the wet season, supports a rich herb community,
including many rare species
• Sandstone bowal threatened by bauxite extraction for
aluminium products
Images:
Google Earth
Jan 2016
Images: Charlotte
Couch, Quentin Luke
Bauxite extraction from sandstone bowal habitat in the Grandes
Chutes Classified Forest near Mambiya
Images: Google Earth
Guinea: threatened habitats - Bowal
Image: Google Earth
Guinea: threatened habitats
Bowal
Kew MSc. Plant and Fungal
Taxonomy, Diversity and
Conservation Thesis 2016:
Bowal in West Africa (Natalie
Konig)
Mapping of bowal habitat in
Guinea
Field survey of the habitat and
its species
Guinea: threatened habitats
Iron ore mining in montane grassland
Oct 2011
Jan 2015
Mining of granite inselberg, Macenta
Images: Google Earth
Artisanal gold mining: Simandou Range, Pic de
Fon Classified Forest, lowland evergreen forest
Images: Iain Darbyshire
Mt Gangan proposed IPA, Guinea
Image: Isabel Larridon
With thanks to all that have helped in the project to date
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Plantlife International
Partner organisations in the TIPA countries
Darwin Initiative
GBIF Biodiversity for Development programme
IUCN Species Survival Commission