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concern as well as rediscovering plants not seen for a long time and finding plant species new to science. The global IUCN Red List
is more than just a list of species names and Red List Categories – it is a compilation of evidence detailing the current extinction risk for the species assessed to date. South Africa has assessed the threat status of all of its plant taxa and several animal groups; these are available online.
As of November 2023, 117 taxa of conservation concern were observed across eThekwini, 67 of which are plant species. The CREW Programme confirmed that 82% of plant species of conservation concern known to occur within eThekwini boundary has been surveyed and recorded on iNaturalist.
Some observations of taxa of conservation concern submitted to the South African Red List plants and animals project on iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=164766&project_id=south-african-red-list-plants-and-animals&view=species
Medicinal Plant Species
Medicinal plants are central to South African culture and wellbeing with a large proportion of the population regularly using these, thereby impacting on the survival of these plants in the wild. In recent years there has been a significant decline in the availability of medicinal plants through overexploitation. Therefore, the CREW Programme has set up the Medicinal Plants of South Africa project
on iNaturalist to collect observations of medicinal plants. While nationally the project has records of 102 species, there are 44 species recorded within eThekwini. The top five most recorded medicinal species documented in eThekwini are illustrated in the Figure below.
Most recorded medicinal plant species in eThekwini
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=164766&project_id=medicinal-plants-of-south-africa&view=species
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