A REVIEW OF THREATENED PLANT SPECIES UTILIZATION, CONSERVATION STATUS, AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE VHEMBE BIOSPHERE RESERVE, LIMPOPO PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

Scientific evidence suggests that threatened plants are disappearing at an alarming rate. Over the last decades, government spending in the fight against species extinction risk has immensely increased, exceeding US$7.1 billion annually. However, the rate of species extinction worldwide is rapidly increasing, with no indications of slowing down soon. Scientific scholars, including botanists, ethnobotanists, economic -botanists, conservationists, and anthropologists, share a mutual interest in using indigenous knowledge for livelihoods, scientific and economic growth. As a result, there is a growing interest in indigenous knowledge research, particularly the research fields involving plant species utilization and conservation. Given that recent scientific evidence suggests that such studies are lacking in South African Biosphere Reserves, there is a burning need to critically review the literature about threatened plant species utilization, conservation status, and distribution in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve. The literature search was conducted using various keywords in various electronic databases. The review findings demonstrate that Brackenridgea zanguebarica, Prunus africana, Rhychosia vendae, and Warbugia salutaris were being utilized for medicinal purposes in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, and their conservation status range from Vulnerable to Critical Endangered. So far, none of the literature studies conducted in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve has specified the ailments that P. africana, R. vendae, and W. salutaris treat. The results revealed that many literature studies had reported on the distribution of threatened plant species in the Vhembe Region, at the national level or elsewhere. However, none of these studies have incorporated spatial information related to the exact locality of the species, except for B. zanguebarica. This review provides insights above utilized threatened plant species, their conservation statuses, and distribution in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve.