MEDICAL BOTANY - A.G. Serbin - 2003

SECTION 4. ECOLOGY, PHYTOCENOLOGY, PHYTOGEOGRAPHY

PLANT CONSERVATION

Numerous organizations and institutions are engaged in the conservation of plant life. In 1960, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) introduced The Red Data Book of Rare and Endangered Species of Plants and Animals. It provides information on the past and present distribution and population numbers of species, brief data on their biological characteristics, and measures taken or recommended for their protection. Examples of species included in the IUCN Red List are ginseng, Eldar pine, Daphne sophia, etc. In 1980, the IUCN approved the World Conservation Strategy, which substantiated the principle that preventing potential environmental damage is more beneficial than mitigating its consequences. At the 1992 UN Conference, attended by 154 states, the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests was adopted.

Botanical gardens, universities and institutes, arboretums, nature reserves, and sanctuaries across all nations conduct research, educational, and cultural-outreach activities; maintain strict protection regimes and safeguard specific areas within their territories; build collections of rare and endangered species; ensure their cultivation and propagation; and summarize the results of plant Introduction.

It is difficult to name a more pressing global issue today than the Protection of the environment and our planet's natural wealth. The rational use, conservation, careful stewardship, and reproduction of plant resources constitute a vital component of this challenge.

The adverse human impact and the pressures of civilization on natural vegetation cover are steadily increasing. The areas occupied by natural vegetation are continuously shrinking. Certain plant species are vanishing or becoming rare. Fewer and fewer pristine natural benchmarks—relatively undisturbed plant communities—remain. The vast majority of human activities exert a negative effect on natural flora and vegetation. In the vicinity of large cities and in popular recreation areas, the negative Anthropogenic impact on the human habitat continues to intensify. Flora suffers significant damage from the mass harvesting of brightly flowering plants for bouquets and from soil trampling. In some Western European countries, up to 5% of native flora species have disappeared over the past two centuries.

The threat of complete extinction now looms not only over individual plant species, but also over entire plant communities. Preventing their destruction is of paramount importance. The disappearance of any species from the face of the Earth is an irreversible loss, as every species holds value for humanity as a raw material, a medicinal agent, a source of beneficial substances, and so forth.

In Ukraine, as in other countries, considerable attention is devoted to plant conservation. Relevant provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine are in effect, alongside a series of laws and regulations pertaining to environmental protection at both the national and local levels. A comprehensive system of state measures is currently operational to protect and restore plant life and preserve natural vegetation.

From the foregoing, it is clear that environmental protection—and plant conservation in the first place—is an exceptionally important matter of national and public significance that requires comprehensive measures. At present, the efforts of many countries are directed toward concerted action to preserve global and national plant heritage.