Taiwan plant hunters race to collect rare species before they're gone

Hung Hsin-chieh, a research assistant who works for Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center, climbs a tree as he looks for endangered plants to collect in Jin Shui forest, Pingtung, Taiwan, September 11, 2020. "Not everyone can get to the places I go to. I can stay a long time out in the wild, in the mountains or forests. I go in scattered directions. I am very good at climbing trees. Not everyone can climb trees," Hung said. REUTERS/Ann Wang

TAITUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - In the forests and on remote offshore islands of Taiwan, a group of conservationists are racing to collect as many rare plant species as they can before they are lost to climate change and human encroachment.

Overseen by the Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Centre, the plant hunters are scouring sub-tropical Taiwan for as many rare plant samples as they can find, from the rugged eastern coast around Taitung to Dongyin, in the Matsu archipelago.