Biodiversity science blossoms in China

Conservation of rare and endangered plant species in China

“…China has been a leader in the international effort to digitize and upload museum collections. 21 More than 16.4 million herbarium specimens and 17.8 million color photographs have been digitized and uploaded online ( http://www.nsii.org.cn/2017/home.php ). To solve the problem of identification of plants, CAS has established the “Plant DNA Bank of China” ( https://www.plantplus.cn/dna/ ), which makes it possible to identify REPs quickly and accurately by DNA barcode.…”

“… 19 , 20 With China’s strong political structure and centralized funding, effective and ambitious national-scale initiatives such as the national Red List evaluation of species, dramatic expansion of protected areas, redline policies to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services, and the network of forest dynamics plots have been launched. 21 By integrating climate, biodiversity, and land-use strategies under national policy frameworks, this kind of “political feasibility” will help to conserve biodiversity 22 and to fulfill the target of zero extinction eventually.…”