Never before has our understanding of systematic botany been more crucial for tackling the huge and interlinked challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. In this talk I will highlight how the understanding of plant diversity, distribution, threats and uses are paramount to providing real-world solutions that benefit nature and people. I will exemplify these points through work carried out at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in strong collaboration with partners worldwide.

Specific projects include: i) advice on habitat restoration projects, including tree-planting initiatives, that take into account context-specific and evidence-based guidelines around species and genetic diversity, monitoring and stakeholder engagement; ii) the identification of Important Plant Areas, which now offer the potential of incorporating real-time, remote-sensed and citizen-science gathered data, within artificial intelligence platforms; and iii) the identification and equitable exploration of useful plant traits, such as new sources of food from orphan and neglected crops and crop wild relatives, which hold the potential of supporting transitions towards socio-environmentally sustainable livelihoods in the world’s poorest nations. A critical theme running through all these projects, and one that is crucial to their success, is the integration of systematic botany into wider societal contexts.