An international research partnership is bringing new possibilities for environmental safeguarding in the Middle East through open access publication of their latest scientific findings. New *research by scientists at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), working with counterparts in the Sultanate of Oman, at Oman Botanic Garden, in the free to access-free to publish Edinburgh Journal of Botany (EJB), provides important insights for informing policies on protecting species diversity.

The research paper brings to light two plant species not previously reported for the Arabian Peninsula and eight more unrecorded for Oman. As such, it provides valuable data for conservation in the region. While the sultanate is sparsely vegetated, it has a unique and varied flora, which is increasingly under threat from urbanisation, grazing and infrastructure development projects, along with climate change. To date, 9.2 per cent of the total flora has been categorised as Threatened; and 4.8 per cent as Near Threatened. Therefore, the publication of scientific data on these 10 species is particularly significant.

The new records raise the total number of known taxa in the national flora of Oman to 1417. While this is broadly similar to the numbers of plant species found in the United Kingdom, the work being undertaken there is considerably more complex.

Dr Peter Wilkie, EJB Editor-in-Chief, explained: “It is important that we make this kind of data freely available to all who want to read it. There needs to be wider understanding that for research to become a truly effective tool, we should not hinder the engagement of any interested parties by adding the burden of paywalls.

“It can be absolutely crucial for researchers working in difficult financial and social conditions to get the access they need to all the latest scientific and conservation findings and I am proud we are playing our part”.

His comments were echoed by Zawan Al-Qassabi, a researcher at Oman Botanic Garden and a co-author on the new paper. She said: “Colleagues at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are invaluable partners in our ongoing research endeavours to document the flora of Oman. We appreciate all the work the Edinburgh Journal of Botany editorial teams put into producing a fabulous paper and it is a great honour to have our research published in such a well-established scientific journal, where it can be accessed globally and free of charge by all interested parties, wherever they are in the world”.

Edinburgh’s partnership with Oman is coordinated by RBGE’s Centre for Middle Eastern Plants (CMEP) headed-up by Dr Sophie Neale. She concluded: “Continuity is crucial to this kind of partnership, both in terms of fieldwork and ex-situ research, and also in ensuring all interested parties have access to a well-respected platform which is prepared to make data freely available – without paywalls – to all those who can benefit from that information”.

ENDS

For further information, interviews, images please respond to this email or contact Shauna Hay on 07824 529 028 or Suzie Huggins on 07385 491 460

 EDITOR’S NOTES

* STUDIES IN THE FLORA OF ARABIA: XXXV. NEW RECORDS FROM THE SULTANATE OF OMAN https://journals.rbge.org.uk/ejb/article/view/2002

Edinburgh Journal of Botany (EJB) is a Diamond Open Access international journal of plant systematics covering related aspects of biodiversity, conservation science and phytogeography.

Edinburgh Journal of Botany | Diamond Open Access international journal | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (rbge.org.uk)

Oman Botanic Garden www.omanbotanicgarden.com

Centre for Middle Eastern Plants (CMEP) is an authority on the Middle Eastern environment.

Based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, it works with local partners to tackle contemporary environmental challenges, including sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, water conservation and climate change. CMEP projects leave pragmatic and environmentally sustainable legacies

Centre for Middle Eastern Plants | We shape sustainable environments (cmep.org.uk)

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a leading international research organisation delivering knowledge, education and plant conservation action around the world. In Scotland its four Gardens at Edinburgh, Benmore, Logan and Dawyck attract more than a million visitors each year. It operates as a Non-Departmental Public Body established under the National Heritage (Scotland) Act 1985, principally funded by the Scottish Government. It is also a registered charity, managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by Ministers. Its mission is “To explore, conserve and explain the world of plants”.

Learn more: www.rbge.org.uk