XVI International Botanical Congess

This paper will be focused in three main topics. Firstly, I will be analyzing the role of the floristic studies have had in the past and should have in the near future for humankind. I will present a summary of floristic studies especially in the American continent within a framework of their utility and availability. In addition, based in this summary, I pretend to propose specific actions to be undertaken in the next ten years, in order to obtain important floristic information in electronic form for some areas, based in their environmental fragility, biological richness and endemism. The second part of the presentation, will summarize and discuss the need to document invasive, endemic and endangered species, especially in the neotropics. In addition, I will discuss the importance of having accurate distributional information, for undertaking in situ and ex situ conservation policies. Finally, I will discuss some problems on relationship to the accumulation of floristics hard data and the adverse situation that the Latin American scientists working in floristics are facing, on relationship to budget and academic recognition within their own institutions.