The conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of humankind, but states have sovereign rights over their own biological resources and are responsible for conserving their biodiversity and using their biological resources sustainably (Convention on Biological Diversity, https://www.cbd.int). A consequence of these rights and responsibilities is that each state needs an overview of the species present within their borders.
Development and refinement of such inventories for plants was a major focus in the early 21st century, in
response to the CBD’s Global Strategy for Plant Conservation1,2.
Many tropical countries face great challenges in preparing national plant inventories. The tropics are home to most of the c. 350,000 known vascular plant species, but their plant diversity is relatively poorly-documented, and vital reference materials are often inaccessible in herbaria overseas. Thus, herbarium research or fieldwork regularly yields additions to the known flora: either species new to science3–8 or species known to science but documented for the first time in the country of interest.
The Checklist of Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea (CVPRG) is a comprehensive listing of all 3505
vascular plant species documented as occurring naturally within Guinea (3328 flowering plants, 177 pteridophytes).
Also listed are 396 non-indigenous species recorded in Guinea, but introduced plants are less frequently
collected so coverage is incomplete. For each vascular plant species reported from Guinea, we aimed to cite at
least one expert-verified, collection-based record, including all taxa recorded in the Flore de la Guinée9 which
documented 2633 indigenous angiosperm species. These voucher specimens provide auditable evidence of the
occurrence of each taxon in Guinea.
