Words from the Guest Editor-in-Chief

PSESP (Plant Species with Extremely Small Populations) is a new concept developed to rescue the most globally threatened plant species.It first appeared in "Proposal for the Extremely Small Population protection project for the endemic plants and animals of Yunnan", a report submitted to China's State Forestry Administration (SFA) through the Yunnan Forestry Department (YFD) in 2005.In September 2009, four years after the launch of the project, the "First National PSESP Seminar and Launching Ceremony of the Reintroduction Program of China" was hosted by SFA, YFD and the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and held in Kunming, Yunnan, China.Since then, reintroduction and reinforcement of three model PSESP, namely Manglietiastrum sinicum (Huagai mu in Chinese), Quercus sichourensis (Xichou Oak) and Paphiopedilum armeniacum (Xinghuang doulan in Chinese), has been supported by the SFA and YFD as a demonstration program for the rescue and conservation of PSESP.In March 2010, the Yunnan Government approved the "Planning Outline (2010e2020) and Emergency Action Plan (2010e2015) for Wild Species with Extremely Small Populations" submitted by YFD and Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department (YPSTD).This Plan designates 62 PSESP for rescue before 2020, of which 20 required urgent action by 2015, and are therefore given the highest priority.In October 2011, the "Launching Ceremony of Pilot Demonstration for Establishment of PSESP In-Situ Conservation Sites in Yunnan" was held.March 2012 saw the SFA and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly issue and distribute guidelines in the form of the "Rescuing Conservation Plan for PSESP (2011e2015) of China".Following these guidelines, some 120 PSESP have been nationally targeted for actions.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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