Climate change shows that the global ecosystem is deeply perturbed.Therefore,people concerned with particular facets of the environment should organise their efforts to make their contributions to conservation most effective.There is only one cover of plants on Earth,so all plant-related aspects of conservation should be considered in deciding how the land and the plants on it should be managed for conservation purposes.Considering the range of interests of members of the plant conservation community,a three-fold classification of the benefits to be derived from ecosystem-based plant conservation (EBPC) is suggested:conservation of plant species,the sustainable use of plant resources and the delivery of ecosystem services.EBPC is a place-centred approach which,in principle,should be pursued everywhere.Ethnobotanical research can help reveal realities about relationships between local people and plants and about how these relationships are influenced by wider cultural and socio-economic systems,thus providing information useful for advancing plant conservation.Applied ethnobotany involves ethnobotanists working in a participatory way with local people,both parties contributing to the identification of issues of conservation and sustainable development relating to plants and both parties engaged in investigating how these might be solved.This type of research helps ensure that priority issues from the local perspective are addressed,thus making it more likely that local people will be committed to implementing solutions found.Both knowledge and values associated with local communities and knowledge and methodologies associated with science become fully engaged in the conservation cause.