Plant Groups of Conservation Interest

In Colombia, plants are a common element of the landscape, even in houses and cities. Yet not all plants are the same: some have restricted distributions while others are abundant in all of the territory. Plants also differ in that some species were once amply distributed, but now are scarce due to their commercial and cultural uses or the effects of territorial transformation.

Avoiding species extinction is a global priority, as is improving the conservation status of threatened species, especially those with greatest population declines ( Aichi Targef 12 for 2020). In Colombia about 80 % of plant species lack information regarding their conservation status; consequently, it is necessary to develop conservation strategies for species that are a priority due to their biological, socio-economic, and cultural importance. Those that have a restricted distribution, such as endemic species, could also be prioritized since their disappearance from the territory would signify extinction.

Conservation efforts to ensure the preservation of these species require updated and available information about their distribution, ecology, and use. In this sense, there has been an increase of information for the groups of palms, tropical cycads y magnoliids. Currently, all of the tropical cycads ¹ and magnoliids² of the country are threatened, and 53 species of palms³are in the same situation. In the tropical dry forest, research has been carried out in order to increase the amount of knowledge about endemic species of this ecosystem. There are 54 endemic species for tropical dry forests, and 36 of these are threatened.

Evaluating the representativeness of these species in the Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (National System of Protected Areas-SINAP for its initials in Spanish) and the Nature Reserves of the Civil Society may give a clue to whether conservation measures are being effective. Although representativeness indexes are encouraging, they also show that a significant percentage of species require complementary conservation measures,, especially those that are out of SINAP or natural areas (inside agricultural and artificial areas). Complementary conservation measures include collecting individual ex situ as well as developing protocols for reintroduction and propagation in their natural habitat or promoting their sustainable use. In general, research about wild populations should increase for all species, in such a way that all of the parts involved in plant conservation in the country are working in conjunction.