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 In
1998, The World List of Threatened
Trees was published, indicating that more than
8,000 tree species are currently threatened with extinction
(Oldfield et al. 1998). Destruction of forest
habitat and unsustainable logging are responsible for
the loss of economically important tree species including
pines, oaks, firs, cedar, mahogany and meranti. Although
9% of the world's tree species are on the list, very
few endangered tree species are being conserved in the
wild. While many people are familiar with the concept
of animals such as the tiger and panda being threatened
with extinction, fewer people know about the perilous
situation of many of the world’s trees.
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Using information published in The World List of Threatened Trees, UNEP-WCMC
and Fauna & Flora International have jointly developed
the Global Trees
Campaign, which aims to help save the world's most
threatened tree species and their habitats. The aim
of this book is to raise the profile of the global tree
crisis, by highlighting threats to unique and valuable
tree species, and identifying species and areas of outstanding
conservation importance. It will be a key product of
the Global Trees Campaign. As a useful by-product, distributional
datasets for threatened trees will be built-up, improved
and made available to researchers and conservationists
through an online spatial database. Training will be
offered to students and interns.
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