FLORON in its first five years

The spatial distribution of floristic activities and observations is mapped and analysed (Map 1, p. 162). The nature and importance of floristic data gathered by amateurs is compared with those of professional surveys. The use of the database FLORBASE is illustrated with various examples. Recently, the financial scope of FLORON has widened considerably. Besides, it now cooperates with several other non-governmental organizations of similar nature. Adding to this the enthusiasm of a large number highly motivated florists it may be concluded that floristics in the Netherlands faces a bright future. The Foundation FLORON was established in 1988. It coordinates and stimulates the activities of botanical naturalists observing the flora of The Netherlands (here called ‘florists’), in order to gather data on the distribution of plant species. Up to 1993, florists have accumulated over 1 million records on a scale unit of 1 x 1 km. Findings of rare and endangered species have been recorded on an even more detailed scale. All data will be added to the national database FLORBASE. In addition to the FLORON data, FLORBASE contains data accumulated by professional observers of various nature conservation organizations, provinces, as well as the national government. The last few years have shown a gradual decrease of the professional activities in this field; it is clear that the florists will play an increasingly important role in the annual additions of new data to FLORBASE. This year, FLORON has taken over the management of FLORBASE. With over 4 million records from 1975 onwards, FLORBASE has a wide range of uses, both in scientific research, and for planning and evaluation of nature and environmental policy.