Where we've been

Unfortunately, up until this point, most of the focus on protecting plants has been either on protecting the spaces they are in or protecting them because a specific endangered animal depended on them. Plants aren't particularly cute or fuzzy, and haven't gotten very much attention from endangered species acts. The best protection we have seen so far has come from protecting natural spaces, and specifically from the IUCN adding a managed resource category of protected spaces (read more in the Protect Natural Spaces section).

The biggest attempt to protect plants in recent history has been attempts to stop rainforest deforestation. The last couple decades have seen a major focus on preventing deforestation in the tropical rainforests of the world to try to save the rich biodiversity they contain. Recently, this has gotten even more attention as it has become more widely accepted that cutting down trees is contributing to climate change, which is damaging the rest of the natural world. Attempts have mostly been limited to trying to protect large spaces by either making them parks or by buying them up.

Recently, it was agreed that at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December of 2009, part of the deal that will be reached will include protections of plants to help prevent climate change. It is likely that nations will be able to pay other nations to protect rainforest space from being destroyed. There are criticisms of how effective this will be, but it is a new focus on protecting plants.