In 2010 the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) pledged to set aside 17 percent of the world’s land as protected areas in addition to protecting 60 percent of the world’s plant species—through the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC)—by 2020. Now a new study in Science finds that the world can achieve both ambitious goals at the same time—if only we protect the right places. Looking at data on over 100,000 flower plants, scientists determined that protecting 17 percent of the world’s land (focusing on priority plant areas) would conserve 67 percent of the world’s plants.
Read the full, original story here: “Scientists outline how to save nearly 70 percent of the world’s plant species”
