TO THE HISTORY OF THE RED DATA BOOK OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN (PLANTS)

The first unofficial edition of the “Red Book of the Bashkir ASSR” was published in 1984. This Red Book was very different in structure from modern editions and had no official status. 170 plant species were included in this Red Book. In 1987, it was reissued with minor changes. These editions aroused great interest in the scientific community and significantly stimulated the study of rare species. The first official edition of the Red Book of the Republic of Bashkortostan (RB) in the section “Plants and Fungi” was published in 2 volumes in 2001 and 2002. In the new edition, the list of taxa was significantly revised. About 70 species were excluded and about 100 new species were included. Adhering to the principle of unity of the Red Books of the Russian Federation and regions, a number of spe- cies that are generally rare for Russia, but common in the Republic of Bashkortostan, was included in the Red Book by force. In 2011 and 2021, the 2nd and 3rd official editions of the Red Books of the Republic of Bashkortostan were published, respectively. They critically revised the list composition, included 232 species each, of which only 88 species were included in the 1984 edition. In total, 347 species were included in all editions, which is about 16% of the entire flora of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Red Books played a huge role in protecting the biodiversity of the republic. They stimulated compre- hensive studies of rare species in many scientific centers. In the conditions of the Botanical Garden, more than 80 species were covered by research, i.e. 30% of the total number of “Red Book” species of the Republic of Bashkortostan. More than 10 botanical and 60 complex natural monuments were created to protect “Red Book” species. The data from the Red Book were widely used in the development of the mapscheme “System of Protect- ed Natural Territories of the Republic of Bashkortostan”, approved by the Government of the Republic of Bash- kortostan in 2004. Since 2002, an annual summary “Maintenance of the Cadastre of Rare and Endangered Species of Higher Vascular Plants of the Republic of Bashkortostan” has been compiled, the materials of which are used for the re- publication of the Red Book.