Extensive botanical exploration has accompanied the publication of the Flora. Since beginning work on FRPS in 1959, however, Chinese botanists have felt isolated and have been concerned that many of the names they have used might not be generally applicable or their descriptions in line with those used by other scientists. For thousands of years up to the present, China has relied heavily on wood for construction and fuel. Deforestation has created many desert areas in north and northwest China. The expansion of the desert and the shrinking of the prairie grassland of northeastern provinces and Nei Mongol occurred during the 1970s when the government decided to convert the grassland into crop fields.
Rampant deforestation continues.
It is likely that some of them have already become extinct, or are very rare and in peril of extinction. The Flora of China will contribute greatly to the conservation of Chinese plants. Consistent effort is being made during the course of the preparation of the Flora to identify threatened and endangered species, making possible studies to relocate these rare, threatened and endangered species and to bring them into cultivation in China and elsewhere. Because China is home to such a large proportion of the plants of the world, the preservation of these species, which in many cases are the relicts of North Temperate species that were more widespread in the past, are of special importance for all people. The updated, English-language Flora will help enlist the participation of the international community in China's effort to preserve its own botanical diversity.