In 2012, Euphorbia tanaensis was included among the world's 100 most threatened species, in a report by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Zoological Society of London.
Euphorbia tanaensis is a poorly-known, medium-sized succulent tree, and a member of the large (2000 species) diverse plant genus Euphorbia.The tree stands up to 30 meters tall, and the single trunk reaches up to approximately 50 cm in diameter; typical of the Euphorbia its flowers are reduced and clustered into flowerheads called cyanthia.
This species is thought to exist as just four mature individuals in a single deciduous swamp forest in the small (42 square km) Witu Forest Reserve of coastal Kenya.Because of widespread poverty in the area and instability in Kenya, authorities in the Witu Forest have been unable to preserve E. tanaensis from illegal logging activity and the effects of habitat degradation with encroachment of agricultural activities on the edge of the preserve, despite the fact that the forest is a legally protected area. There is a conservation effort in progress to cultivate the species in order to re-introduce it to its endemic area in larger numbers.The IUCN identified E. tanaensis as critically endangered in 1998, and it was included as one of the world’s 100 most threatened species in a report by the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the Zoological Society of London in 2012.
(Baillie & Butcher 2012; CAMP Workshop Kenya 1998; Carter 2002; Harvey 2012; IUCN 2010; Tolkin database 2013)
