Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020 report released.
RBG Kew’s fourth State of the World’s report, released today, takes a deep dive into the state of the world’s plant and fungal kingdoms globally. The new data, the result of a huge and unprecedented international collaboration bringing together 210 scientists from 42 countries, show how we are currently using plants and fungi, what useful properties we are missing, and what we risk losing.
Plants and fungi are the building blocks of life on planet Earth. They have the potential to solve urgent problems that threaten human life, but these vital resources are being compromised by biodiversity loss. The report highlights the pressing need to explore the solutions that plants and fungi could provide, to address some of the pressures facing people and planet.
This landmark report is the first time plants and fungi have been combined in one global State of the World’s assessment, with the underlying data also published today in a series of scientific research papers made freely available in the leading journal Plants, People, Planet.
Professor Alexandre Antonelli, Director of Science at RBG Kew, says: “The data emerging from this year’s report paint a picture of a world that has turned its back on the potential of plants and fungi to address fundamental global issues such as food security and climate change. Societies have been too dependent on too few species for too long. At a time of rapid biodiversity loss, we are failing to access the treasure chest of incredible diversity on offer and missing a huge opportunity for our generation. As we start the most critical decade our planet has ever faced, we hope this report will give the public, businesses and policymakers the facts they need to demand nature-based solutions that can address the triple threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and food security.”
The State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report is publicly available here.
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Posted On: 01/10/2020