The IUCN (the International Union for Conservation) Red List is a crucial resource for conservation (https://www.iucnredlist.org/). It is the go to for understanding which species are threatened and hence is used heavily in policy making by governmental agencies. It also provides an important database for wildlife departments, NGOs, natural resource planners, educational organisations, students, and the business community. Broadly aiding many stakeholders in understanding the plight of biodiversity and how best to protect it, the Red List was established in 1964 and is now updated twice a year with new reports coming from all over the world and from every kingdom of life. There are currently around 147,500 species on the Red List with 41,000 species recognised as Threatened. Yet, it is often the large mammals whose status is most talked about whilst the plight of plants and fungi often go unnoticed.
The categories of the IUCN Red List. © International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Tulips are very poorly represented on the Red List with only six wild tulip species of the ~96 species recognized today having already been assessed. These assessed species are primarily known to grow in the Balkans, Greece, or Turkey and therefore, the tulip diversity hotspot of Central Asia is heavily underrepresented on this database. At the moment, we estimate around 63 species occur across Central Asia making it the most important region for tulip diversity globally. National assessments of tulip diversity in this region suggest many species are declining, but no large-scale assessment of these flowers’ extinction risk has been carried out.
Through our project, we have been primarily researching the wild tulip diversity of Central Asia. In this work we have been reorganizing the taxonomy, recording population locations, understanding threats to species and beginning to piece together the information needed to understand which species are Threatened. During the last four years we have collated information not only from published work, but also from local experts, mainly through a workshop we ran in Spring 2022. Our project has incorporated decades of people’s work, ensured the most detailed datasets possible and shared this data across an equal platform of collaborators.
Crucially, the tulip conservation project has provided a great opportunity to bring people together and make sure this information is captured and not lost. Specifically, we have worked over the last two years to prepare IUCN Red List reports and create distribution maps for 53 species of wild tulip growing in Central Asia. Today on the 9th of December 2022 these reports were formally released. They encompass the first Central Asian tulips to ever be assessed and strikingly we have managed to capture 84% of all known species in the region through this process. This work will ensure that around 60% of global tulip diversity will now be represented on the Red List. A truly remarkable achievement only made possible by the work of a collection of extremely motivated and experienced researchers and conservationists.
Our Darwin Initiative funded project helped to survey over 100 wild tulip populations in Kyrgyzstan, but the most significant outcome was a regional workshop held in Bishkek in May 2022 where we proceeded to Red List many of Central Asia’s wild tulips. We were privileged to work side by side with international tulip experts and benefit from their experience and knowledge. Together we have ensured the inclusion of wild tulips on the IUCN Red List, thereby promoting the protection of a key part of Central Asia’s biodiversity.
Professor Kaiyrkul Shalpykov, Director of the Chemistry and Phytotechnology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic
It is estimated that around two in every five plants are Threatened with extinction. Yet, our reports show that around 50% of Central Asia tulips are under threat of extinction and are therefore more at peril than many other plant groups. Our work highlights climate change and livestock overgrazing as the primary threats, but mining, urbanization, collection, and agriculture all impact on many species. In general, wild tulips are well represented in protected areas and botanic garden collections. However, crucial gaps for many critically endangered and endangered species exist, which will need to be tackled to prevent their extinction.
Using our new assessments, we are able to identify species at exceptionally high risk of extinction. This includes those that are endemic to specific countries as well as those that occur in multiple countries and will require regional collaboration to protect. In addition, improved understanding of species and threat distributions enable better selection of key sites for conservation, while, an understanding of threats, especially overcollection, can help inform national and international policies leading to legal protection of these rare species.
Thanks to the amazing efforts of plant conservationists across Central Asia, we now, for the first time, have a clear picture on how tulip species are faring in the wild across the region. With more than 50% of these species deemed to be threatened with extinction, the red list assessments serve as a call for action for tulip conservation. We now know which species are at greatest risk of extinction, which places should be prioritised for conservation, and what threats we need to tackle. Now, significant conservation action and funding must follow to ensure these amazing species have a future across the steppes and mountain grasslands of Central Asia.
David Gill, Acting Deputy Regional Director for Eurasia, Fauna & Flora International
Overall, this is a major step forward in Central Asian tulip conservation. There is now a huge, freely accessible, database of information on wild tulip species. Notably, this will promote the protection of not only wild tulip species, but of their habitat and therefore of neighbouring species. Through our project, the flora and fauna of the Mountains of Central Asia biodiversity hotspot and surrounding areas are that little bit safer. Many species are in decline, but projects like this spotlight the incredible people out there working to protect our planet and that there is hope even for those organisms which many would overlook. Welcome to the Red List little tulips!
In search of wild tulips 