As interest in including local communities and their knowledge in biodiversity conservation increases, challenges to do so become clear. One of them is to harmonize local and academic assessments of conservation status. Here, we document the culturally valuable flora of two Amazigh communities in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains and contrast local conservation observations with IUCN and other red-listing assessments. Our study reveals two levels of mismatch. Unsurprisingly, the species of interest of these two knowledge systems differ considerably. Moreover, species’ availability and populations’ trends of change and the conservation evaluations often diverge between local and academic assessments. Locally valuable species are rarely threatened, but a focus on locally prioritized species is essential to ensure the active participation of local communities in conservation initiatives. Given the salient role of IUCN Red Lists in guiding conservation action, a better understanding of the differences in plant value and conservation assessments between the two knowledge systems can help harmonize biodiversity conservation and community wellbeing goals.

随着对包括当地社区及其在生物多样性保护方面的知识的兴趣增加，这样做的挑战变得显而易见。其中之一是协调当地和学术界对保护状况的评估。在这里，我们记录了摩洛哥高阿特拉斯山脉两个 Amazigh 社区具有文化价值的植物群，并将当地保护观察与 IUCN 和其他红色名录评估进行了对比。我们的研究揭示了两个层次的不匹配。毫不奇怪，这两个知识系统的兴趣种类有很大不同。此外，物种的可用性和种群的变化趋势以及保护评估往往在地方评估和学术评估之间存在分歧。当地有价值的物种很少受到威胁，但重点关注当地优先物种对于确保当地社区积极参与保护举措至关重要。鉴于 IUCN 红色名录在指导保护行动方面的突出作用，更好地了解这两个知识体系在植物价值和保护评估方面的差异，有助于协调生物多样性保护和社区福祉目标。