An analysis of Species Conservation Action Plans in Guinea

Abstract

To achieve conservation success, we need to support the recovery of threatened species. Yet, <5% of plant species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List have Species Conservation Action Plans (CAPs). If we are to move from a Red List to a Green List for threatened plant species, CAPs need to be devised and implemented. Guinea is one of the most botanically diverse countries in West Africa. Recent research found that nearly 4000 vascular plants occur in Guinea, a 30% increase from previous estimates. 273 of these plant species are now assessed as threatened with global extinction. There is increasing pressure on the environment from the extractive industry and a growing population. In parallel with implementation of an Important Plant Area programme in Guinea, CAPs were developed for 20 threatened plant species. These plans elaborate conservation efforts needed first to safeguard threatened species both in situ and ex situ and then to support their recovery. We document the approach used to assemble the Species Conservation Action Plans, and we discuss the importance of having up to date field information, IUCN Red List assessments, and use of a collaborative approach. The need for these plans is increasingly important with recent calculations suggesting a third of African plants are threatened with extinction. This paper outlines initial detailed plant conservation planning in Guinea and offers a template for conservation practitioners in other tropical African countries to follow.

The generic status ofAnacolosa(Olacaceae) in Africa withA. deniseaea new species to science of Endangered submontane forest liana from Simandou, Republic of Guinea

“…Named for Denise Molmou, leading Guinea field botanist with the National Herbarium of Guinea and Simfer S.A. who discovered and collected the flowering type specimen material in November 2021. Her commitment and actions for the conservation of threatened species of Guinean plants as part of the Guinea TIPAs project (Couch et al . 2019) has been exceptional.…”

Impatiens banensp. nov. &I. etugeisp. nov. (Balsaminaceae), threatened lowland species of the Cross-Sanaga Interval, Cameroon

“…from adjacent slash and burn agriculture, colonisation by non-indigenous species such as Ananas comosus L., which can out-compete indigenous inselberg species and replace them. Inselbergs are extensively targeted and quarried for their granite, which converted to gravel is in high demand for production of concrete and road surfacing and which can totally destroy the inselbergs concerned in terms of their plant communities (Couch et al . 2019).…”

The montane trees of the Cameroon Highlands, West-Central Africa, with Deinbollia onanae sp. nov. (Sapindaceae), a new primate-dispersed, Endangered species

“…The majority of montane tree species of the Cameroon Highlands are widespread in montane forest in Africa (Afromontane) occurring also east of the Congo Basin in the rift mountains of East Africa and several, such as Ilex mitis, extend north to Ethiopia and south to South Africa. The East African montane forest is more species-diverse, and only a subset of its species extend west to the Cameroon Highlands, and an even smaller subset, just seven species, extend even further west from the Cameroon Highlands, to the Guinea Highlands ( Couch et al, 2019 : 54).…”