Plants fuel the diversity of life on earth.
They are the building blocks of all habitats and the foundation of complex food-webs that include all our other wildlife including insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds.
40% 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.
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Stockholm University found that 571 plant species had disappeared in the last two and a half centuries, a number that is more than twice the number of birds, mammals and amphibians recorded as extinct (a combined total of 217 species).
This data suggests plant extinction is happening as much as 500 times faster than what would be expected normally, if humans weren’t around.
alancossinsART 