New website supports efforts to save the world’s largest flowers

A new website has been launched to help conserve Rafflesia, the world’s largest flowers, which grow in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. The website is the new home of The Community for the Conservation and Research of Rafflesia (CCRR), a group of academic biologists, foresters, researchers, and community practitioners around the world who work on Rafflesia.

Their collective aim is to build an international community of purpose who seek to understand and conserve these special flowers by developing and sharing their knowledge, realising income from ecotourism to support community-level conservation on the ground, and raising awareness to support future protection of these amazing plants.

About Rafflesia

Rafflesia is the genus of plants containing the world’s largest flowers. All are parasitic, and for most of their lifecycle, they remain hidden within the tissues of their host – a tropical vine – eventually bursting through the forest floor. The mature flowers span up to a metre across and produce a foul smell of rotting meat to attract pollinating flies.

Despite their global appeal and cultural significance, an estimated 60% of the 42 known species are now at severe risk of extinction, and more than two-thirds of known habitats are without any protection, leaving many species critically vulnerable.

Urgent action is needed to protect these remarkable flowers, and international collaboration and knowledge exchange is needed to protect their habitats and provide support for local community action groups.

If you’d like to find out more, visit the website to keep up to date with news and research on these fascinating plants.