Jiddat Web Desk ::60% of the 124 known coffee specifies are under threat of extinction. According to the first full assessment of the world’s coffee plants, scientists are worried that coffee is on edge of extinction.

Around 100 different types of coffee trees grow in the forests naturally. 2 of them are used in the coffee that we consume.The first full assessment of risks to the world’s coffee plants shows that 60% of species are on the edge of extinction.

Dr Aaron Davis of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew said,  “If it wasn’t for wild species we wouldn’t have as much coffee to drink in the world today.Adding, “Because if you look at the history of coffee cultivation, we have used wild species to make the coffee crop sustainable.”

According to research published in Science Advances journal the conservation steps were inadequate” for wild coffees. The study revealed that 75 wild coffee species are under threat of extinctions, 35 are not under threat and no much is known about the left 14 species.The study found that 75 wild coffee species are considered threatened with extinction, 35 are not threatened and too little is known about the remaining 14 to make any judgement.

Dr Tadesse Woldemariam Gole, of the Environment and Coffee Forest Forum in Addis Ababa said,  “Given the importance of Arabica coffee to Ethiopia, and to the world, we need to do our utmost to understand the risks facing its survival in the wild.”

Worldwide one in five plants is on edge of extinction in comparison to the 60% of coffee. Even wild tea and mangoes are threatened with extinction along with hazelnuts and pistachios.