- Two in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction as a result of the destruction of the natural world, according to an international report.
- Plants and fungi underpin life on Earth, but the scientists said they were now in a race against time to find and identify species before they were lost.
- These unknown species, and many already recorded, were an untapped “treasure chest” of food, medicines and biofuels that could tackle many of humanity’s greatest challenges, potentially including treatments for coronavirus and other pandemic microbes.
- More than 4,000 species of plants and fungi were discovered in 2019.
- These included six species of Allium in Europe and China, the same group as onions and garlic.
- New medical plants included a sea holly species in Texas, whose relatives can treat inflammation, a species of antimalarial Artemisa in Tibet and three varieties of evening primrose.
- The UN revealed last week that the world’s governments failed to meet a single target to stem biodiversity losses in the last decade.
- The researchers based their assessment of the proportion of species under threat of extinction on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
- They also used artificial intelligence to assess little-known areas, that are up to 90% accurate.
- The main cause of plant losses is the destruction of wild habitat to create farmland. Overharvesting of wild plants, building, invasive species, pollution and, increasingly, the climate crisis are also important causes of losses.
- Billions of people rely on herbal medicines as their primary source of healthcare, but the report found that 723 species used as treatments are threatened with extinction.
- These include a type of red angel’s trumpet in South America used for circulatory disorders that is now extinct in the wild and an Indian pitcher plant traditionally used for skin diseases.
- Half the world’s people depend on rice, maize and wheat and just 15 plants provide 90% of all calories.
- Potential future foods include the morama bean, a drought-tolerant South African legume that tastes like cashew nuts when roasted, and a species of pandan fruit that grows from Hawaii to the Philippines.
- The report also found the current levels of beekeeping in cities such as London was threatening wild bees, as there was insufficient nectar and pollen available to support beehive numbers and honeybees were outcompeting wild bees.
