welwitschia (Welwitschia mirabilis)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 212527121

Assessment of the extinction risk for the iconic Welwitschia mirabilis

Main aim of this project is providing a science-based estimation of the extinction risk for Welwitschia mirabilis at the species level according to the IUCN criteria. This will allow its inclusion in the official redlist of threatened species and a more formal consideration of this species in the decision-making process. In order to reach this aim we will target the following secondary objectives: 1. Discover and make available the existing information on species distribution, demography, and conservation, which is currently spread in a plethora of published and unpublished datasets and field observations. 2. Verify the real level of isolation of the different subranges and populations, in order to identify intra-specific conservation units. 3. Define the extent of occurrence and the area of occupancy for each intra-specific conservation unit we identified. 4. Measure basic demographic parameters for a representative set of populations in each conservation unit. 5. Quantify local threats for each conservation unit. Effects of intensive browsing, fungal infections, and mining activities were reported but their effects have not been adequately defined. 6. Identify priority areas for the species conservation. 7. Extend the analysis of climate change impacts to the other subranges.