Global shortfalls in extinction risk assessments for endemic flora

SUMMARY The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) ambitiously calls for an assessment of extinction risk for all recognised plant taxa by 2020 1 . It is now clear that this target will not be met in the short-term; only 21-26% of known plant species have been assessed 2 – a monumental shortfall in anticipated knowledge. Yet the need for risk assessments has never been more urgent. Plants are rapidly going extinct 3,4 and face threats such as climate change 5 and permanent deforestation 6 . Extinction risk assessments continue to provide the critical foundation to inform protection, management and recovery of plant species 7,8 , the loss of which will have clear consequences for maintaining planetary systems and human well-being 9 . Here, we rank countries of the world based on progress towards assessing the extinction risk to their endemic flora. Overall, 67% of country-based endemic species do not have an extinction risk assessment completed (143,294 species). We show that some of the world’s wealthiest nations, which also have relatively strong species protections, are failing to protect their unique flora by not systematically assessing risks to their endemic species.