Format: ORAL

Mauricio Diazgranados1,2, Laura Kor2,3, William Milliken2, Tiziana Ulian2,4

1 New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10458, USA 2 Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, Wakehurst, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK 3 King’s College London, Bush House NE, London, WC2B 4BG, UK 4 University of Torino, Viale Pier Andrea Mattioli 25, 10125 Turin, Italy

Colombia is one of the worlds most biodiverse and ethnically rich countries. As the nation continues resolving its socio-economic challenges, biodiversity and the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) associated with it are under increased threat by climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, acculturation, and other factors. The Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project aimed to develop pathways to enhance natures contribution to people in Colombia by increasing, consolidating, and making accessible the knowledge of its useful plants and fungi for the benefit of society. The project produced catalogs of useful species, online portals, and a platform to facilitate sustainable value chain markets, alongside a wide range of publications, including books and scientific articles. A core research question was how the knowledge of useful plants could inform national conservation priorities and sustainable utilization. We applied the Important Plant Areas (IPA) approach to identify key sites for in-situ conservation, with 980 sites meeting IPA thresholds. We found 46 sites to be of high priority and highlighted 10 top-priority sites for further investigation and conservation actions. We also found that complementing scientific and traditional knowledge can better inform the conservation and support the sustainable use of plants in Colombia. We investigated whether citizen science could help mitigate the erosion of traditional ecological knowledge on useful plants through the use of digital surveys involving local citizen scientists. The trial in three pilot areas was successful, and we recommend building and strengthening the engagement of citizen scientists. Lastly, we carried out gap analyses at the spatial and taxonomic levels, to identify areas lacking floral inventories or ethnobotanical surveys, as well as underrepresented taxa. Overall, the project enhanced the baseline knowledge of useful plants and fungi, and the associated TEK, providing crucial information to support Colombias transformation towards a greener, more sustainable economy whilst protecting its biodiversity.