Plant Conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Policy Paper Prepared for the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation

Abstract

Abstract The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), with its 16 plant conservation targets, was originally adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002. It was updated and revised in 2010, with targets set to be achieved by 2020. The GSPC's targets are output oriented, specific, and measurable. They address the conservation needs of wild plants as well as those of cultivated crops, pastures, and forests. Although it is generally acknowledged that greater progress has been made in conserving threatened plants than would have been made without the GSPC, there is a continued lack of mainstreaming plant conservation at the national level and a lack of comprehensive information on which plants are threatened and where. With the GSPC reaching the end of its second phase in 2020, it is important to consider how plant conservation can enhance its visibility and generate support in the future. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and associated Sustainable Development G...