Abstract:

Aims: Recently, the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants has been updated after a long intermission since its first version issued 22 years ago. In this paper, we illustrated the necessity, urgency, principle, and process of updating the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (LNKPWP).
Methods: We reviewed the situation of plant conservation in China in last two decades and the process of updating the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants.
Results: During the last two decades, the increase of human population and economy has had a deep effect on the conservation of plant diversity in China. Thirty species of higher plants in China were assessed as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild, and more than 3,800 species were assessed in threatened status in 2017 due to habitat loss or fragmentation, over-collection, and other factors. Because of this, it was crucial to update the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (LNKPWP). The project to update LNKPWP began in 2018. Five basic and four supplementary principles of inclusion and exclusion of species in LNKPWP, were discussed and adopted during the process, especially the inclusion of endangered species, and species of important economic, cultural, ecological, and scientific interest. The updated LNKPWP received the approval from the State Council and became a legitimate appendix of the Regulation of Wild Plant Protection of China on 7th September, 2021. In total, there are 455 species and 40 taxa (families, genera or sections) in LNKPWP.

Key words: China, List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (LNKPWP), principles and process of updating LNKPWP