Africa’s plant species face conservation crisis as iucn red list leaves thousands unevaluated

A critical gap in global conservation efforts is putting countless African plant species at risk, as the vast majority remain unassessed by the world’s primary extinction risk database. While conservation organizations, governments, and funding bodies rely heavily on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List to guide their decisions, new analysis reveals that this crucial tool is far from complete—particularly for African flora.

The numbers paint a stark picture of this conservation blind spot. Globally, only about 18% of the world’s estimated 350,000 vascular plant species have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, leaving more than 280,000 species without any official extinction risk assessment. In Africa, the situation is even more concerning. In Mozambique alone, over three-quarters of the country’s plant species lack current IUCN evaluations, while across tropical Africa, a staggering 87% of green plant species either have no assessment or rely on outdated evaluations published 25 years ago or longer.

This massive assessment gap creates a dangerous scenario where conservation priorities, funding allocation, and policy decisions are based on incomplete information. Species that may be critically endangered could be overlooked entirely, while resources might be misdirected away from plants that desperately need protection. The consequence is that numerous African plant species—including trees that serve as crucial components of local ecosystems and traditional medicine—may disappear before scientists even have the chance to properly evaluate their conservation status.

The findings highlight an urgent need for accelerated botanical assessments across Africa to ensure that conservation efforts can effectively protect the continent’s remarkable plant diversity before it’s too late.