Plant taxonomy and conservation in Papua New Guinea
2004
Banka, R.(PNG Forest Research Inst., P.O.Box 314 Lae (Papua New Guinea). PNG National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens)E-mail:[email protected]
Papua New Guinea has one of the richest and most diverse flora in the world, not only in the Flora Malesiana region, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 vascular plant species of forms and flowering plants. There is a recent list of genera for the country but modern species-level treatments exist only for a small portion of the flora, and most of them have been done by plant taxonomist abroad, as there is a genuine decline in qualified, experienced and local taxonomists within the country. Whilst the government has focused mainly on the exploitation of its natural resources for its minerals, oil and timber, large track of pristine rainforests are being removed without the country knowing how much of its plant species are being lost or put on the verge of being very much threatened. The task of documenting the local flora has now become an urgent need, as there is pressure to keep up with the rate of forest clearance and species loss. With the current lack of local plant taxonomists in PNG it will become very difficult to formulate conservation strategies for the country, especially when the identity of species is not known and not documented regularly. Conservation of endemic plant species in those areas where forest clearance is increasing cannot happen without the basic knowledge of its floristic composition. There is now a need to build the capacity of local plant taxonomists, so that conservation efforts can be pursued vigorously. The PNG National Herbarium needs international collaboration to build its local taxonomic capacity so that conservation strategies can be formulated and implemented, as without this, it will be difficult to carry out conservation programmes.
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