CONSERVATION OF PLANT DIVERSITY IN CHINA - ACHIEVEMENTS, PROSPECTS AND CONCERNS

China abounds with plant germplasm resources, and its conservation wor k, both in situ and ex situ, has advanced rapidly since 1978. We give a brief account of the development and management of nature reserves, natural parks, botanical gardens and crop genebanks in China. We also outline some of the losses of crop cultivars and continuing threats to the diversity of natural vegetation through the large-scale felling o f forests and overgrazing of grasslands with ensuing erosion and deser tification in some areas. The continual losses of plant germplasm reso urces and vegetation is cause for concern, and some effective measures have been taken by the government and people in recent years. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.