Experts attending the Sino-UK scientific forum on plant conservation appealed Thursday that the two countries should promote the global plant protection strategy for the sustainable harness of the plant resources.

"For some plant species, the number of specimens that we keep in our labs may exceed those living in the wild," said Dr. Johannes Vogel, director of the Plant Department of The UK National History Museum.

"It is the time that all the countries should work together to save the endangered species," said Dr. Vogel.

Currently, the world's 20 percent to 30 percent of plants are on the verge of extinction mainly due to the environmental pollution, invasion of foreign species and climate changes, said Stephen Blackmore, director of the Royal Botanical Garden of Edinburgh.

"In the past, people think that the plant and other natural resources are inexhaustible and have no idea of conservation or protection, so today we must pay for what we did," said the biologist.

Experts all believe that it is of great importance to promote international cooperation in terms of the plant conservation.

"Though it is crucial to carry out the researches on our own, it is even more important to solve the problem through international cooperation," said Dr. Peter R. Crane, director of the Kew garden of the UK Royal Botanic Garden.

Crane said there is a long cooperation history between Great Britain and China.

In the Kew garden, there are a great number of Chinese plant specimens collected from the 18th century, which provide valuable materials in the research work.

An important section of the Sino-UK 2005 technological cooperation project, the meeting is organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Natural Science Foundation and the UK Royal Science Academy.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2005)