ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 2559
Poster No. = 1025


ETHIOPIAN PLANTS: THE TREASURY THAT SHOULD NOT BE LOST


Vadim N.Pavlov / Moscow State University, Russia


Ethiopia, from the botanical point of view, is not explored well. Flora is only half created. Deep study of the vegetation cover has not been started yet. My work for the last 10 years for JERBE in some provinces of the country has brought me to the conclusion that active exploitation of the plant resources (cutting of the forests) can end in the irretrievably impoverished biodiversity. Existing national parks mostly help to conservate the wildlife diversity, while the system of the conservation of plant components of ecosystems could not be created for the lack of the appropriate knowledge. Most alarming is the absence of protected areas at the south-western slopes of the Abyssinian Plateau where the diversity of rainforests reaches its maximum, and the unique 'coffee forests' are found. The extreme diversity of the vegetation must be conserved for a benefit of Ethiopian nation and mankind.


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