I was very surprised when looking through the list of plants for Norfolk Island just how many of the endemic plants were on the brink of extinction until virtually just a few years ago. Some species were actually down to just a few individual plants before efforts were mobilised to redress the decline. br/How this situation can be allowed to develop is a question we must ask, not just for Norfolk Island but for many regions in Australia also. The knowledge of plant distributions in most cases is on the public record. The reluctance of governments to impose land clearing restrictions on private property despite this knowledge is where the problem lies. Vested interests and political lobby groups influence government decisions to enact laws which permit clearing and the public needs to constantly scrutinise these processes and seek to ensure adequate protection for rare and threatened species is in place.br/No doubt the belated creation of the a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Island_National_Park"; target="_blank"Norfolk National Park/a in 1984 and the a href="http://www.anbg.gov.au/chabg/bg-dir/082.html"; target="_blank"Norfolk Island Botanic Gardens/a in 1985 have played a big part in enabling sanctuary for so many local species with many now on the way back from the brink. br/Additionally I am hopeful that there may be private arboretums on Norfolk Island but I was unable to locate any during my brief visit in April 2013. Hopefully I can get back there and more thoroughly explore the endemic flora of Norfolk Island.