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IMPORTANT PLANT AREAS IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2010

T. M. Al-Abbasi ,
A. Al-Farhan ,
A. W. Al-Khulaidi ,
M. Hall ,
O. A. Llewellyn ,
A. G. Miller  and
A. Patzelt
T. M. Al-Abbasi
Affiliation:
National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), PO Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A. Al-Farhan
Affiliation:
Botany and Microbiology Department, King Saud University, PO Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A. W. Al-Khulaidi
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (AREA), PO Box 5788, Taiz, Yemen.
M. Hall
Affiliation:
Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, Scotland, UK. Author for correspondence. E-mail: [email protected]
O. A. Llewellyn
Affiliation:
National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), PO Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A. G. Miller
Affiliation:
Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, Scotland, UK.
A. Patzelt
Affiliation:
Oman Botanic Garden, Muscat, Oman.
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Abstract

An Important Plant Area programme has been initiated for the Arabian region by the IUCN Arabian Plant Specialist Group. The aim of this programme is to assess hotspots of plant diversity in the region and designate the most important as Important Plant Areas. These assessments are conducted on the basis of specific criteria and this paper presents the criteria which have been adopted for the Arabian Peninsula countries of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. These Arabian criteria differ from those originally developed for Europe, and so they are presented here in full. This paper also discusses the context of the Important Plant Area programme and its ability to provide a framework for conservation planning.

Keywords

ArabiaconservationImportant Plant AreaKey Biodiversity Area
Type
Articles
Information
Edinburgh Journal of Botany , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 25 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2010

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