Using AI and big data to reduce global illegal trade in plants
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Credit: Editorial Office of Biological Diversity
Date: May 22, 2026
Guangzhou, China: Plant diversity, critical to human survival, faces severe threats from illegal trade, with approximately 21% of global plant species at risk. Despite international conventions like CITES and CBD, traditional regulatory measures—including customs inspections and field patrols—prove inefficient, failing to tackle dispersed online transactions and cross-border criminal networks effectively.
A recent study published in Biological Diversity by researchers from the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh proposes an innovative solution: integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technologies to build a full-cycle intelligent prevention and control system for illegal plant trade.
The research highlights that AI and big data enable real-time monitoring, precise tracking, and cross-border collaborative governance. Practical applications, such as the Global Alliance’s anti-illegal wildlife trade program, FloraGuard, and China’s Smart Goalkeeper Customs System, have already demonstrated efficacy in detecting illegal transactions. These technologies analyze buyer behavior, transaction patterns, and species characteristics to block illegal sales and trace criminal chains.
To accelerate implementation, the study calls for four key actions: building cross-level data and AI infrastructure, developing intelligent identification systems, establishing collaborative law enforcement platforms, and formulating ethical standards. It also addresses challenges like cross-border data sharing barriers, algorithm bias, and privacy protection.
This research provides the first comprehensive framework for AI-driven illegal plant trade governance, offering new hope for protecting endangered plant species and global biodiversity.
Original Source
Ren, Hai, Yifu Wang, and Stephen Blackmore. 2025. “Using AI and Big Data to Reduce Global Illegal Trade in Plants.” Biological Diversity 2(2-3): 106–109.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bod2.70008
About the Author
Hai Ren (First author and corresponding author), Professor at the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and President of the Guangzhou Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses primarily on forest ecosystem restoration and reintroduction of rare and endangered plants. He has published over 300 research papers and authored three monographs: Introduction to Restoration Ecology (in Chinese), Conservation and Reintroduction of Rare and Endangered Plants in China, and Plantations: Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, and Restoration. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Council of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and an expert of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC).
About the Journal
Biological Diversity (ISSN: 2994-4139) is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal sponsored by the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and published in partnership with Wiley. Launched in 2024 and issued quarterly, it is dedicated to advancing biodiversity conservation, safeguarding ecosystem functions and services, and promoting the sustainable utilization of biological resources under global environmental change. The journal welcomes original research, reviews, commentaries, and short communications across a broad spectrum of disciplines, including botany, zoology, microbiology, taxonomy, phylogenetics, genomics, cytology, ecology, climatology, economics, sociology, and real-time policy theory. It publishes innovative research addressing pressing global challenges of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.