Founding Co-Chair of IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group Uwe Schippmann receives 2026 American Botanical Council Steven Foster Botanical Conservation and Sustainability Award
The IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) extends our congratulations to botanist, taxonomist, and medicinal plant conservationist Uwe Schippmann, on being named a recipient of the American Botanical Council (ABC) Steven Foster Botanical Conservation and Sustainability Award for 2026.
Dr Uwe Schippmann at the Mercado Sonora in Mexico-City, looking at the medicinal plant Arbol de las manitas Chiranthodendron pentadactylon
From 1990 to 2019, botanist, taxonomist, and medicinal plant conservationist Uwe Schippmann, PhD. led the German CITES Scientific Authority for Plants, which forms part of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz, BfN) in Bonn, Germany. At BfN, one of his significant achievements was the development and elaboration of an internationally acknowledged methodology to prepare scientifically sound non-detriment findings, a cornerstone for the conservation success of CITES. In 1994, Schippmann co-founded the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Medicinal Plant Specialist Group, which he co-chaired until 2000.
As head of the Department of Plant Species Conservation at BfN, he oversaw the publication of the German Red List for plants, floristic and vegetation mapping, invasive species management, and species information systems management. He retired from BfN in 2019.
Schippmann continues work as an independent researcher and consultant, including ongoing development of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Resources of the World database, which he created and manages and which contains conservation-related data on some 20,000 MAP species. Since 2020, he has been developing the National Red lists Database for Vascular Plants, a synopsis of Red List categories for higher plants extracted from 350 Red Lists from 130 countries worldwide.
Dr Schippmann’s dedication to building and maintaining knowledge systems for medicinal and aromatic plants support much of IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group’s science-based work on conservation and sustainable use of these important plant species” said Dr Danna Leaman, former co-chair of IUCN SSC Medicinal Plant Specialist Group.
About the ABC Steven Foster Award
The ABC Steven Foster Award was created in 2022 and recognizes excellence in conservation and sustainability efforts related to MAPs. It is named in honor of botanist, author, and photographer Steven Foster (1957–2022) and commemorates his many years of professional interest, writing, and advocacy work in this field.
The 2026 ABC Foster Award was presented at the 21st annual ABC Celebration and Botanical Excellence Awards Ceremony on March 3, 2026, in Anaheim, USA.