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IPAs can help to raise national awareness of and pride in the biodiversity of a country, acting as a means of stimulating local interest in plant species and habitats through education programmes.
Highlighting and conserving IPAs can lead to improved livelihoods and community benefits through better awareness and management of key plant resources for materials, food and medicine, water security, ecosystem services, greater recognition of the value of spiritual or religious sites, or sustainable eco-tourism.
In Bolivia land use change, illegal logging, development, and wildfire outbreaks are threatening the ecosystems of Chiquitano dry forest (in Spanish, Bosque Chiquitano). This urgency led to the designation of 18 Tropical Important Plant Area (TIPA) sites in this fragile ecosystem in the borders of Bolivia and Brazil. – the first PAs in Latin America and a huge step in protecting these precious habitats, as well as leading to a multitude of benefits to local communities.
For example, the TIPAs team in Bolivia comprises mostly of Bolivian women scientists, which is strengthening capacity across a broad network of national universities, natural history museums and botanic gardens across the country. The team provides training on Red List conservation assessments as well as field work, as well as working with local communities to record more than 4,000 useful species (approximately half of which have medicinal use).
The success of these programmes has gained the attention of the departmental government of Santa Cruz and the national government, who are now factoring the Chiquitano IPAs into their conservation action plans and working to identify new priority areas of botanical importance at a national scale. By the end of 2025, Bolivia will be the country with the largest number of IPA sites identified (more than 70), with both government and community support to deliver conservation actions to protect national threatened, endemic and useful plant species.
Find out more about IPAs in Bolivia here.
In Cameroon the designation of an IPA halted government plans to log the Ebo forest. Home to a stunning diversity of plant life – 40 national endemics, 14 new species to science, and countless socially, economically and culturally valuable species.
In 2006, the government of Cameroon proposed the creation of a national park in Ebo forest to safeguard this unique flora and associated fauna. However, the protected area was never formally decreed and, in an alarming turn of events, plans were revealed in 2020 to create two long-term logging concessions covering the entire area of the proposed park. With over 40 villages located along the forest’s boundaries, proposals to exploit the area for timber posed a serious and immediate threat to its species, ecosystems, and local communities. In response, a rapid mobilization effort was launched which included a comprehensive report on endangered species, supported by a letter (with 60 signatories) sent to the Prime Minister of Cameroon. This collective action led to a major victory for Ebo Forest, as the logging plans were subsequently suspended.
Find out more about IPAs in Cameroon here.
Join Natalija Melovska from the Macedonia Ecological Society (NGO), to learn more about Important Plant Areas (IPAs) and their importance in Macedonia.
“Sometimes, conservation starts with a simple idea – and grows into something bigger. That’s what happened when the Important Plant Areas initiative came to North Macedonia back in 2005. With Plantlife’s support and the enthusiasm of their experts, we began a journey that transformed how we protect our rarest plants – and the communities who depend on them.”
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