date: May 22, 2026
Guangzhou, China: Plant diversity, vital to human survival, faces serious threats from illegal trade, with approximately 21% of the world’s plant species at risk. Despite international treaties such as CITES and the CBD, traditional regulatory measures such as customs inspections and on-site patrols have proven inefficient and have failed to effectively address fragmented online transactions and transnational criminal networks.
Recent research published in biodiversity The study, by researchers from South China Botanic Garden, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), and Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, proposes an innovative solution that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology to create a full-cycle intelligent prevention and control system for illegal plant trade.
The study highlights that AI and big data enable real-time monitoring, precise tracking, and collaborative governance across borders. Practical applications such as FloraGuard, the Global Alliance’s wildlife trade prevention program, and China’s Smart Goalkeeper customs system have already demonstrated their effectiveness in detecting illegal trade. These technologies analyze buyer behavior, transaction patterns, and species characteristics to deter illegal sales and track criminal chains.
The study calls for four key actions to accelerate implementation: building cross-level data and AI infrastructure, developing intelligent identification systems, establishing collaborative law enforcement platforms, and developing ethical standards. It also addresses challenges such as barriers to cross-border data sharing, algorithmic bias, and privacy protection.
This research provides the first comprehensive AI-powered framework for illicit plant trade governance, offering new hope for protecting endangered plant species and global biodiversity.
original source
Ren, Hi, Eef One, Stephen Blackmore. 2025. “Using AI and big data to reduce illegal plant trade globally.” biodiversity 2(2-3): 106-109.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bod2.70008
About the author
Hiren (First author and corresponding author)Professor of South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of Guangzhou Branch, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research primarily focuses on forest ecosystem restoration and reintroduction of rare and endangered plant species. He has published over 300 research papers and written three books. Introduction to restoration ecology (in Chinese), Protection and reintroduction of rare and endangered plants in Chinaand Plantations: Biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and restoration. He is a member of the Botanical Gardens Conservation Council International (BGCI) and an expert on the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
About the magazine
biodiversity (ISSN: 2994-4139) is an international peer-reviewed open access journal sponsored by the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and published in partnership with Wiley. Launched in 2024, it is published quarterly and is dedicated to promoting biodiversity conservation, protecting ecosystem functions and services, and promoting the sustainable use of biological resources in the face of global environmental change. The journal welcomes original research, reviews, commentaries, and short communications across a wide range of disciplines, including botany, zoology, microbiology, taxonomy, phylogenetics, genomics, cytology, ecology, climatology, economics, sociology, and real-time policy theory. We publish innovative research that addresses pressing global challenges of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
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