Perhaps the botanists are too week to put their case forward as no interest groups support their voice while environmentalist are supported by different lobbies. The voice of botanists are not heard
Petrochemicals have big money and so do the environmentalist. Its common fashion to establish NGO on environmental issue once you retire from plum posts, get lands allotted as you are well connected and your colleagues help you out, ask and get great funds from UN bodies or other International support organisations. Its big buisness.
I wish International support organisations should ask environmental lobbies for or against climate change names of ten plants , or pH of the soil , or EC of the water they find polluted or how many trees they have raised on the land as a requirement for funding.
However that is not my area of work I am worried about plants.
Plants are getting endangered for three reasons.
New fad for herbal medicines has lead to total removal of plants from their natural habitats and their export to rich nations for foreign currency.
Lack of knowledge that plants need to be protected.
Once top layer of biodiversity is gone , the second and three tier dry up, If second and three tier of plants dry up the soil erosion sets in and the seeds of the trees which germinate in rich humus dont germinate and we loose tree population
Once tree population is gone vegetaion is gone
Who cares for biodiversity conservation
as there are no Copenhagen or Kyoto for it
Hope some day some one will care to protect plants as botanists have forgotten their plants for molecular biology and new botanists are not borne.