Taiwan has drawn up rescue plans for three native plants at risk of dying out, a modest but positive step for the island's wildlife and coastal defenses.

• The Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute and the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency wrote action plans for Taiwan cork-tree, Kao's thorowax, and Japanese sedge.
• Two of the three are one step from extinction in the wild on the global endangered list; the third is close behind.
• Japanese sedge is down to three patches on Taiwan's coasts, and its roots hold sand in place and slow beach erosion.
• Taiwan cork-tree feeds birds and monkeys through winter and holds hillside soil together, but it is being illegally cut for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
• The plans map out where each plant stands, how it breeds, and what to do next, and lean on local governments, researchers, and volunteer groups to carry the work.

Outlook: The plans give a framework, but reversing the decline depends on stopping illegal harvesting and protecting the few sites left.