Govermate logoGovermate
Back to opportunities
DocumentClosednews

New Report on Plants and Fungi Reveals How Digital Technology Helps Combat Extinction

University of KwaZulu-NatalRef: D AS 2026

Official source

Source domain: ukzn.ac.za

Collected on 2 August 2026

Always confirm details on the official source before acting.

Our copy (archived 2 August 2026)Official source

What this means

This is a University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) news blog post dated 30 July 2026. It reports on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2026” (SOTWPF) report released on 16 June, focusing on how AI, digitisation and global data-sharing can support conservation and help combat extinction. The post highlights UKZN’s Professor Benny Bytebier and the Bews Herbarium in Pietermaritzburg, including digitisation progress (imaging of 250 000 specimens and transcription of 25% of labels) and broader findings about threatened and unassessed plant and fungal species.

Facts

Places

KwaZulu-Natal, Msunduzi Local Municipality

Reference

D AS 2026

Key Takeaways

  • UKZN news post date: 30 July 2026
  • SOTWPF 2026 report released: 16 June (year not explicitly stated in text, but referenced as 2026)
  • Report theme: AI, digitisation and global data-sharing for conservation
  • Contributor: Professor Benny Bytebier (UKZN), curator of the Bews Herbarium
  • Bews Herbarium digitisation: 250 000 specimens imaged; 25% of specimen labels transcribed into a searchable database
  • Threatened species figures: 29 748 plant species and 411 fungal species considered threatened with extinction
  • Assessment gaps: only 18% of plant species and 0.6% of fungal species formally assessed
  • Extinction status: fewer than 1 000 plant species officially declared extinct
  • Estimated unknown species: >100 000 plant species and over 2 million fungal species remain unknown to science
  • Claim: fewer than 16% of the world’s herbarium specimens have been imaged and made digitally available
  • University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
  • Professor Benny Bytebier
  • Bews Herbarium
  • Natural Science Collections Facility
  • South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI)
  • Western Indian Ocean Island Herbarium Network
  • Natural Science Collections Facility (NSCF)
  • Mauritius
  • Madagascar
  • Belgium
  • Christine Cuénod

Dates

Closing Date

30 July 2026