Biodiversity loss is a major global challenge and minimizing extinction rates is the goal of several multilateral environmental agreements. Policy decisions require comprehensive, spatially explicit information on species’ distributions and threats. We present an analysis of the conservation status of 14,669 European terrestrial, freshwater and marine species (ca. 10% of the continental fauna and flora), including all vertebrates and selected groups of invertebrates and plants. Our results reveal that 19% of European species are threatened with extinction, with higher extinction risks for plants (27%) and invertebrates (24%) compared to vertebrates (18%). These numbers exceed recent IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) assumptions of extinction risk. Changes in agricultural practices and associated habitat loss, overharvesting, pollution and development are major threats to biodiversity. Maintaining and restoring sustainable land and water use practices is crucial to minimize future biodiversity declines.

Over the past decade, plant DNA barcoding has emerged as a scientific breakthrough and is often used to help with species identification or as a taxonomical tool. DNA barcoding is very important in medicinal plant use, not only for identification purposes but also for the authentication of medicinal products. Here, a total of 61 Indonesian medicinal plant species from 30 families and a pair of ITS2, matK, rbcL, and trnL primers were used for a DNA barcoding study consisting of molecular and sequence analyses. This study aimed to analyze how the four identified DNA barcoding regions (ITS2, matK, rbcL, and trnL) aid identification and conservation and to investigate their effectiveness for DNA barcoding for the studied species. This study resulted in 212 DNA barcoding sequences and identified new ones for the studied medicinal plant species. Though there is no ideal or perfect region for DNA barcoding of the target species, we recommend matK as the main region for Indonesian medicinal plant identification, with ITS2 and rbcL as alternative or complementary regions. These findings will be useful for forensic studies that support the conservation of medicinal plants and their national and global use.