Endangered wild plants in Qatar

Abstract

A wide range of natural processes, invasive plants and human activity have had a strong impact on the stability of the ecosystem, leading to the destruction of plants habitats and plant endangerment or even extinction. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, together with the Natural History Museum, London, and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has revealed that the world's plants are as threatened as mammals, with one in five of the world's plant species threatened with extinction. Wild plants make an important contribution to the life of local communities. Some plant species in Qatar, are endangered like Rhanterium epapposum Oliv. (Arhaj), Convolvulus pilosellifolius Desr. (Malbow), Dipcadi erythraeum Webb&Berthel. (Miselmow), Glossonema varians (Stocks) Benth. Ex Hook.f. (Yarawah), Prosopis cineraria (Ghaf). Unless action is taken to stop such decline and a mechanism is put in place to reverse and preserve these wild endangered plants, we will be faced with the danger of their extinction the near future. Therefore, it is critical to have a knowledge of assessment and protection measures, such as replanting and propagating through the technology of tissue culture, to turn around loss of biodiversity in Qatar.