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Welsh Ghost Orchid Declaration launch

On Wednesday 17 March 2010, Plantlife Cymru hosted an evening reception at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff to rally Assembly Members and policy makers to recognise the importance, as well as the beauty, of Wales's threatened and disappearing wild plants

March 16 2010

The Ghost Orchid Declaration is a new report from the conservation charity, which looks at the key issues affecting wild plant conservation and offers challenging solutions.

‘With 1 in 5 of Wales' wild plants either lost or in danger of extinction, now is the time to act' says Jane Davidson, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, Welsh Assembly Government.

'Wales’s landscapes and our iconic and specialist plants, including Snowdon Lily, Welsh Poppy and Wild Daffodils, provide key environmental services, underpin our economy and lend us and our visitors a sense of wonder and pride. I am delighted to host this evening’s reception to celebrate the colour in our countryside and to encourage everyone to join Plantlife’s call to action.’

‘The Ghost Orchid Declaration is a call to arms' says Plantlife Chairman Prof. Roger Crofts CBE. 'We need urgent action by government and its agencies to ensure the survival of plants: the most basic and vital ingredient of life. We are not calling for more money, but for better use of existing resources by ensuring that plant restoration and plant conservation are given a higher priority in biodiversity and land management programmes.’

Some facts:

• 1 in 5 wild flowers in Wales is either extinct or threatened with extinction. The most recent victim in Wales was Oysterplant, lost in 1989 through a combination of habitat destruction and climate change.

• Of the 543 priority species on the Welsh Assembly Government's Section 42 List of Priority Species for Conservation, 40% are plants and fungi.

• In Wales, just two experts are employed directly by government to conserve fungi, mosses and lichens. Yet we have over 75%of the diversity of these species in Britain.

• Out of £4 million given in biodiversity research contracts by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee from 2007-2009, nothing went towards plant and fungi projects.

• Across the UK, flowering plants and ferns are at the bottom of the Government’s league table for features in favourable condition on Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

• Wales' upland and arable landscapes provide a home to our most threatened plants. Upland plants like Tufted Saxifrage have suffered from overgrazing and are vulnerable to climate change, while arable flowers such as Corn Buttercup and Small-flowered Catchfly have declined as our farming landscape has changed from cereal to grazing. More intense management of grassland means ongoing losses - out of 18 sites for Lesser Butterfly Orchid in Monmouthshire, just one remains today.

• The places where Wales's legally protected animals live are protected by law – but the places where legally protected plants grow are not. Why is it OK to protect a newt’s home but not that of the Radnor Lily?

For more information about The Ghost Orchid Declaration contact:

Trevor Dines, Plantlife Cymru Conservation Manager and one of the authors of The Ghost Orchid Declaration - 07789 685635

Sue Nottingham, Senior Press Officer - 01722 342757