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Report: 1 in 5 Plant Species Worldwide at Risk of Extinction

HeadlineMay 10, 2016

One in five species of plants worldwide are at risk of extinction amid threats from farming, logging, urbanization and human-made climate change. The global study led by the Royal Botanic Gardens in London is the first of its kind. Researcher Steve Bachman described its findings.

Steve Bachman: “If we completely clear the land and have a kind of monoculture, what happens when a new plant disease emerges and wipes out the crop entirely? So having a more diverse and flexible approach to producing our crops means we’re more likely to be robust for the challenges in the future, especially as the climate changes, more diseases, more insects start to infest the crops. All of that stuff is likely to happen.”

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