Threatened Species Programme

TSP In one of the continent's largest collaborative conservation projects to date, South Africa has become the first megadiverse country to fully assess the status of its entire flora.  The Red List of South African Plants Online provides up to date information on the national conservation status of South Africa's indigenous plants.

The conservation status of plants indicated on the Red List of South African Plants Online represents the status of the species within South Africa's borders. This means that when a species is not endemic to South Africa, only the portion of the species population occurring within South Africa has been assessed. The global conservation status, which is a result of the assessment of the entire global range of a species, can be found on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species: http://www.iucnredlist.org

 

Enter any keywords, e.g. 'rooibos' to find species threatened by rooibos farming. For advanced Search functionality use the POSA website.

 

Red List of South African Plants 2009

Welcome to the Red List of South African plants version 2011.1

This is the first update of the Red List of South African plants 2009. With this new version,
we have extensively expanded on the information included in the book. Additional information
is now available for 3 604 species, 1 075 assessments have been updated, 3 283 photos have been
added, and we have included distribution maps for 7 228 species. 79 newly described species
have been added to the Red List, and 219 species' Red List status have been updated. Included
among these, we are delighted to report the rediscovery of 13 species previously listed as
Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).

Some of the rediscovered species are:
Adenogramma rigida Adenogramma rigida was last seen in 1970. Habitat at all known sites where it was previously collected had been transformed. Nick Helme discovered a small subpopulation of about 200 plants on the Cape Peninsula in 2010. Agathosma trichocarpa Agathosma trichocarpa was not seen for more than 60 years. It was rediscovered by Nick Helme and Ismail Ebrahim on the Piketberg and near Tulbagh. Argyrolobium angustissimum Argyrolobium angustissimum was known from a single collection from Paarl Mountain, and was not seen again for more than 100 years. Volunteers from the Friends of Tygerberg CREW group rediscovered this species on Paarl Mountain after a fire in 2009.
Aspalathus cliffortiifolia Aspalathus cliffortiifolia was last collected in Humewood, a suburb of Port Elizabeth, in 1911. Volunteers of the Port Elizabeth CREW group rediscovered two subpopulations on two small remnants of coastal fynbos. Aspalathus puberula Aspalathus puberula was thought to be extinct after more than 80% of its renosterveld habitat had been transformed. Four new subpopulations have been discovered since 2008, one however was at a development site, and this subpopulation has been lost. Aspalathus retroflexa subsp. bicolor Aspalathus retroflexa subsp. bicolor from the Cape Flats was last collected in the 1970s. It was presumed extinct due to habitat loss to urban expansion and alien invasive plants, however two small subpopulations were rediscovered by volunteers of the CREW programme.
Erica viscaria subsp. gallorum Erica viscaria subsp. gallorum, an extremely range-restricted species, was thought extinct when nearly 100% of its habitat was converted to pine plantations. Ross Turner discovered a small remnant subpopulation of about 10 plants in 2009. Hypertelis trachysperma Hypertelis trachysperma was last seen in 1950. Nick Helme discovered a very small subpopulation of about 50 plants on the Cape Peninsula in 2010. Oxalis levis Oxalis levis was previously known only from the type specimen, collected in 1933 near Mamre. It was rediscovered in June 2011 at Riverlands Nature Reserve.