{"id":25891,"date":"2007-03-30T14:23:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-30T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-10-01T11:44:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:44:50","slug":"891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/","title":{"rendered":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists think there are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth &#8211; and China is home to around 10% of them. It is a treasure-house of biodiversity, yet it is growing and industrialising at breakneck speed. The pressure on China\u2019s plant life is intense, as agriculture and industry demand ever more land. More than 5,000 plant species are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and an estimated 11,000 species possess some economic significance. They need millions of hectares and huge quantities of water. But so do the farms and the factories. And the export trade increases the fragility of China&#8217;s riches still further.<\/p>\n<p>Wuhan Botanical Garden has been chosen to host the third Global Botanic Gardens Congress, organised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Hubei provincial government, Wuhan municipal government and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bgci.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Botanic Gardens Conservation International<\/a> (BGCI). It runs from 16 to 20 April, with 600-plus participants expected. The congress theme is appropriate: \u201cBuilding a Sustainable Future: The Role of Botanic Gardens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The work of botanic gardens has never been more important. There are over 2,500 botanic gardens worldwide, with almost every country having at least one. The UK has over 100, but China can boast more than 140. Together, the world&#8217;s gardens cultivate around 100,000 species (almost a third of known plants) and are major centres of research and expertise for plant conservation.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3gbgc.com\/index.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wuhan Congress<\/a> will be a rare opportunity for the world&#8217;s plant experts to meet, and to share their experiences, knowledge and research. One of the key topics will be how to use plants sustainably, despite the many and growing demands on them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinadialogue.net\/article\/show\/single\/en\/692-Chinese-medicine-s-great-waste-of-resources\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sustainable use<\/a> is now high on China&#8217;s agenda. Apart from domestic pressures, the global demand for its flora can have devastating results. The biggest-selling cancer drug in the world, Taxol, is made from several yew species. In fact, yews have also been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat diabetes, although the whole tree except for the flesh of the fruit surrounding the seed is dangerously poisonous.<\/p>\n<p>A single course of treatment with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paclitaxel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taxol<\/a> requires the bark of 7.5 average-sized <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Taxus_baccata\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">yews<\/a>. To produce a kilogram of the drug takes 3,000 trees, and current world demand estimated to be around 700 kilograms a year<strong>.<\/strong> With India, China is the biggest manufacturer and exporter of the raw material, so it is little wonder that 80% of the yew resources in southwest China\u2019s Yunnan province were destroyed in just three years.<\/p>\n<p>Taxol is only one of the gifts that China&#8217;s pharmacopeia offers the world. Other examples include the colon cancer treatment irinotecan, a standard chemotherapy that interferes with the growth of cancer cells, and topotecan, a chemotherapy used for ovarian and lung cancer. Both are modifications of <em>Camptotheca acuminata<\/em>, a native of China, where it is known as Xi Shu, or \u201cHappy Tree\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But this international trade is not a new thing. The first known account of the trade in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Agarwood\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">agarwood<\/a>, prized for use in incense, perfumery and medicine, was compiled by a Chinese customs official in 1200 AD. In 1998, over 1,000 tonnes of agarwood were traded around the world.<\/p>\n<p>The demand now exceeds supply so much that several species are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iucn.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">IUCN<\/a>) as threatened. Agarwood is also listed on Appendix II of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cites.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CITES<\/a>), meaning that trade must be controlled to avoid threatening the species\u2019 survival.<\/p>\n<p>Around the world, in rich countries and poor ones, plants mean life. About 80% of people in the developing world depend on traditional plant-based medicines, and 75% of the top prescription drugs are derived in part from plants. They transform lives: Madagascar\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livingrainforest.org\/about\/economies\/rosyperiwinkle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rosy periwinkle<\/a> has improved the chances of surviving some forms of childhood leukaemia from 10% to 95% in the last 50 years.<\/p>\n<p>Sustainable development is a priority for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biodiv.org\/default.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity<\/a>, the CBD, which works to conserve all the Earth\u2019s species. It has developed a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, agreed unanimously by all the 188 countries which have ratified the Convention. The congress will discuss how to reach this strategy&#8217;s list of 16 priorities for 2010. One way towards that is for individual countries to develop national strategies. The UK has done so, and after a meeting of British and Chinese experts in November 2006 \u2013 arranged by BGCI \u2013 China is close to being able to mark the congress by unveiling a strategy of its own at Wuhan.<\/p>\n<p>The UK-China meeting was a pivotal point for plant conservation in China, bringing together a wide range of national and international partners. \u201cBuilding on the excellent network we have established, we need to strengthen our collaboration in the future,\u201d said Dr Jia Jiansheng, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration. \u201cContinuing to work with CBD, BGCI and the UK Government, we join hands to conserve wild plants in China and overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But conserving a threatened species can be complicated. One Chinese plant, known to scientists as <em>Cistanche deserticola<\/em> and called suosuo dayun in China, provides a herb called roucongrong which is valued at home and abroad for treating impotence and infertility. It is in growing demand. But <em>Cistanche<\/em> will grow only as a parasite on another plant, <em>Haloxylon<\/em>, which is such good firewood that it is known as &#8220;coal in the desert&#8221;, and is also used for camel feed. So to save one plant, the conservationists have to work out how to rescue two.<\/p>\n<p>Plants seldom attract as much attention from conservationists as some of the more obviously glamorous candidates for help. Campaigners routinely raise money in many countries to save the whale, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinadialogue.net\/article\/show\/single\/en\/552-China-s-trade-in-tiger-bones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tiger<\/a> and the panda, and many other of the \u201ccharismatic mega-fauna\u201d: the big, iconic creatures now sliding towards oblivion.<\/p>\n<p>Yet it is on plants that all life depends. Most terrestrial species either eat plants (if they are herbivores) or else eat prey which itself has fed on vegetation. Even zooplankton, the tiny animals which sustain almost all higher marine life, feed on plants \u2013 phytoplankton. Plants also produce the oxygen we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n<p>But few people see a plant as any sort of icon. However, scientists believe that at least 60,000 plant species face some threat of extinction &#8211; and the total could be 100,000, between a quarter and one-third of the total number on Earth.<\/p>\n<p>That is where BGCI, an independent, international organisation with its head office based at the UK\u2019s Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, can help. It is the world\u2019s largest plant conservation network, and its vision is a world in which plant diversity is valued and secure and supports all life.<\/p>\n<p>And this year may see a historic breakthrough, both in China&#8217;s work to protect its own plants and in worldwide efforts to slow the inexorable slide of much of the plant kingdom towards extinction. It marks two anniversaries: the twentieth year since the establishment of BGCI, and the fiftieth birthday of Wuhan Botanical Garden, one of the crown jewels of China&#8217;s conservation work. Not only is the garden a stunning display case of many varieties of plants, but it is also a world-class scientific institute.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is global, and much of the solution is likely to lie in China. The mountains of south-west China for example, are one of the world&#8217;s most diverse regions, with the greatest number of endemic plants (species found nowhere else) in the world. Of 12,000 plants found in the hotspot, 3,500 are endemic species. Among the most striking are the spring-flowering magnolias, half of which are known to be under threat of extinction in the wild.<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s place in the fight to slow, arrest and hopefully reverse the loss of the world\u2019s plants is pivotal. If it, facing the unparalleled challenges of very rapid modernisation and growth, can find the way towards the truly sustainable use of its unique flora, then every country can hope to do the same. It is a global test case: there are many governments waiting for China to give them a lead.<\/p>\n<p><em>Alex Kirby is a British journalist. He worked for nearly twenty years for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),\u00a0being the\u00a0environment correspondent for BBC News\u00a0from 1987 to 1996. Now working as a freelance journalist, he continues to regularly contribute to the BBC and provides training in media skills to companies, universities and non-governmental organisations.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Homepage photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/people\/kainet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">German M<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":52772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-25891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Conserving China\u2019s plant riches | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"142\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"172\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kirby, Alex\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kirby, Alex\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/abc6e71fe95850de339d1052fb1101d1\"},\"headline\":\"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\"},\"wordCount\":1394,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Nature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\",\"name\":\"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg\",\"width\":142,\"height\":172},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"description\":\"Dialogue Earth is an independent non-profit dedicated to producing exceptional environmental journalism and informed conversations on urgent climate and sustainability topics. Our unique model brings local voices to global audiences and global stories of hope, action and change to local communities. We are committed to accurately portraying China\u2019s development impacts across the Global South through geopolitically even-handed reporting and constructive dialogue. Our approach is rooted in a network of specialist country editors located across South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, and delivered through reporting in eight languages, workshops, and media partnerships. We seek to bring light, rather than heat, to crucial debates, and solutions to bear on complex problems.\",\"email\":\"info@dialogue.earth\",\"telephone\":\"(+44) 7542 525 859\",\"legalName\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"foundingDate\":\"2006-09-22\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"},\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/abc6e71fe95850de339d1052fb1101d1\",\"name\":\"Kirby, Alex\",\"description\":\"Alex Kirby is a British journalist. He worked for nearly twenty years for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), being the environment correspondent for BBC News from 1987 to 1996. Now working as a freelance journalist, he continues to regularly contribute to the BBC and provides training in media skills to companies, universities and non-governmental organisations.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/alexkirby\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/alexkirby\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches | Dialogue Earth","description":"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches","og_description":"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":142,"height":172,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kirby, Alex","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/"},"author":{"name":"Kirby, Alex","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/abc6e71fe95850de339d1052fb1101d1"},"headline":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches","datePublished":"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/"},"wordCount":1394,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg","articleSection":["Nature"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/","name":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg","datePublished":"2007-03-30T14:23:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-01T11:44:50+00:00","description":"There are around 320,000 different plant species on Earth, and China is home to 10% of them. But breakneck growth is putting unprecedented pressure on the country\u2019s biodiversity. Alex Kirby reports on efforts to conserve China\u2019s natural heritage.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/orchid.jpg","width":142,"height":172},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/891-conserving-china-s-plant-riches\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Conserving China\u2019s plant riches"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"description":"Dialogue Earth is an independent non-profit dedicated to producing exceptional environmental journalism and informed conversations on urgent climate and sustainability topics. Our unique model brings local voices to global audiences and global stories of hope, action and change to local communities. We are committed to accurately portraying China\u2019s development impacts across the Global South through geopolitically even-handed reporting and constructive dialogue. Our approach is rooted in a network of specialist country editors located across South and Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America, and delivered through reporting in eight languages, workshops, and media partnerships. We seek to bring light, rather than heat, to crucial debates, and solutions to bear on complex problems.","email":"info@dialogue.earth","telephone":"(+44) 7542 525 859","legalName":"Dialogue Earth","foundingDate":"2006-09-22","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/abc6e71fe95850de339d1052fb1101d1","name":"Kirby, Alex","description":"Alex Kirby is a British journalist. He worked for nearly twenty years for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), being the environment correspondent for BBC News from 1987 to 1996. Now working as a freelance journalist, he continues to regularly contribute to the BBC and provides training in media skills to companies, universities and non-governmental organisations.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/alexkirby\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/alexkirby\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25891"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=25891"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=25891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}