The Ministry of the Environment (MMA) is to schedule a meeting with botany experts to reassess the endangered species list of Brazilian flora.  The list was submitted to the government two years ago by the scientific community, but never published.  Ministry technicians disagree with assessments of scientists regarding the majority of the species on the list.  The MMA believes that only some 400 of the nearly 1,500 species listed are truly endangered.
The situation was revealed last week in an article in the Estado newspaper.  Researchers from the Biodiversitas Foundation, who prepared the list, and the Brazilian Botanical Society (SBB) are requesting the immediate publication of the full study.  The current list dates back from 1992 and has only 107 species and, according to scientists, is completely outdated.  The first review was submitted to MMA in December 2005 and listed 1,537 species as endangered.  The Ministry contested the findings and requested another assessment.  A new list was then prepared and submitted two months ago, with 42 species less than the former (1,495).
The MMA was still not satisfied.  According to the Secretary for Biodiversity and Forests at the Ministry, Maria Cecília Wey de Brito, information submitted on many species was insufficient.  "We need to sit down together and clarify the logic used to include all of these species", she said.  "We want an official list that is solid, without any risks that it will have to be changed two days later."
Some 300 researchers participated in preparing the list.  The Biodiversitas Foundation, an NGO based in Belo Horizonte (MG), coordinated the work through a contract with Ibama.  The review of the endangered fauna list took place through the same partnership and was published in 2003.  At the time, the MMA held publication of the aquatic fish and invertebrates list for one year because of the impact classification could have on fishing activities of certain species.
Researchers believe that the high number of plant species may have 'frightened' the ministry.  Maria Cecília denies it.  "The numbers are not the problem, it is the reliability of the information", she said.  She raised the concern that some species may have been included more through overcaution of researchers than due to any concrete evidence of endangerment.  "There is no doubt that we are behind schedule in this process (of publishing the list), but we must clarify existing doubts before making a decision."
She said that she intends to schedule a meeting with the researchers before the end of the year.  The Technical Superintendent at the Biodiversitas Foundation, Gláucia Drummond, approved the idea.  "It is precisely this dialogue that has been lacking", she said.  "If there are any doubts, the experts are ready to clarify them."  She said that there are scientific justifications for all of the species on the list.  "If the MMA disagrees, it should put forth its scientific arguments."  Most of the species considered endangered are in the Atlantic Rainforest (45%) and the Cerrado (savanna) (34%).