"Fifth Of World's Plants Endangered: Global Study"

"One in five of the world's 380,000 plant species is threatened with extinction and human activity is doing most of the damage, according to a global study published on Wednesday.

Scientists from Britain's Botanic Gardens at Kew, London's Natural History Museum and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), found that more than 22 percent of species were endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable.

"The single greatest threat is conversion of natural habitats to agricultural use, directly impacting 33 percent of threatened species," the report said.

The findings were released ahead of a United Nations summit scheduled for mid-October in Nagoya, Japan where governments are due to set new targets for trying to conserve more of the world's plants and animals."

Reuters had the story September 30, 2010.