Airmid’s Biannual list, revised each January and July, is provided free of charge as an educational tool, and as a basis for ethically sourcing species closer to facing extinction, and whose conservation statuses we know.
These tables highlight species commonly used in aromatherapy, perfumery, and aromatic herbalism. Each table will provide some overlapping content including species’ accepted taxonomic name, images if available, common name(s), synonym(s), conservation status, assessment geographical scope, and year of assessment.
Some tables include links to POWO (Plants of the World Online), IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), and/or BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International); clicking these will take you to their respective pages where you can find additional information about each species.
All species, regardless of conservation status, should be carefully sourced.
Those species that do not yet have a conservation status warrant equal care, as assessments can take time to process and be made public. We therefore encourage reviewing current credible research and reaching out to Airmid Institute to gather more information on species not listed in the table.
The conservation assessments Airmid Institute relies heavily on to create this list are applied to wild populations.
There is a continuum of management intensities, ranging from captive populations in zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens to species that receive no conservation efforts. Confined populations are not considered “wild” and would be eliminated from a Red List assessment (i.e., data from such populations are not used when establishing the status of a species, save for Extinct in the Wild [EW]).
Conversely, subpopulations of a great number of species depend on conservation measures (such as protected areas) that are primarily aimed at minimizing human impacts. These subpopulations are generally regarded as “wild,” and their data are utilized in Red List assessments. These differ from subpopulations controlled with moderate levels of intensity, for which the notion of “wild” may be determined by the degree of management and the subpopulation’s predicted viability absent management (IUCN, 2025).
Reference: IUCN (2025). Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 16.
Many of these species occur naturally in other parts of the world and are widely distributed globally.
The National and Regional section of this list provides information on plants where they have been assessed in specific locations, to give guidance as to where not to source from, or to source from with great care. “Please note that the archive site has not been updated since 2019 and results of the search are likely to be an underestimate” (Personal communication, ZSL and IUCN National Red List Working Group, 2023).
National assessments follow IUCN assessment guidelines, but they also incorporate a country’s own conservation assessment criteria.
This is one reason why you may see a global assessment listing a species as Near Threatened, while it is also listed as threatened (i.e.., Endangered, Critically Endangered or Vulnerable) in a specific part of the world.
Species included in the “Airmid’s Watchful Eye” section are considered susceptible to facing extinction globally or in specific geographic regions, based on current evidence-based research and/or personal communication with credible researchers on the ground.
Please reach out with suggestions of other species to consider for inclusion on the list (info@airmidinstitute.org).
Thank you,
Kelly & The Airmid Team
