africa: Thousands of plant species under threat in Africa, say botanists

Widespread deforestation and an ever-increasing demand for agricultural land threaten thousands of plant species in Africa, some of the world's leading botanists warned Tuesday. As many as 4,500 of Africa's rare species of flowering plants — the continent has 45,000 documented plant species, one-fifth of the world's flora — are at risk, speakers at the 17th meeting of the Association for the Taxonomic Studies of the Flora of Tropical Africa (AETFAT) said.