The need for horticulturist expertise in plant conservation: challenges and opportunities

Paul Smith

doi:10.24823/sibbaldia.2021.316

Abstract

As many as 40% of the world’s plant species are currently threatened with extinction, and botanic gardens have an important role to play in restoring habitats and supporting plant species recovery in situ. Specialist horticultural skills are essential for proactive plant conservation and management. However, there are a number of impediments to deploying horticultural expertise where it is needed the most, including lack of information about which species and recovery programmes need expertise, where that expertise can be found, and institutional or practical impediments such as availability of time and funding. In this paper, the author presents details on tools and resources developed by Botanic Gardens Conservation International designed to engage and support the participation of horticulturists in plant conservation.

Highlights

According to the recent report produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the state of the world’s plants (Antonelli et al, 2020), as many as 40 per cent of plant species are threatened with extinction
Many plant species are in trouble, but we have a large pool of horticultural expertise that can be deployed where it is needed
Working closely with the Morton Arboretum, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and other funders, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) has set up the Global Botanic Garden Fund,3 which is a small grants programme that supports partnerships, species recovery and other botanic garden activities covered by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

Summary

Introduction

According to the recent report produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on the state of the world’s plants (Antonelli et al, 2020), as many as 40 per cent of plant species are threatened with extinction. We need a wider range of crops to enable us to adapt to a changing climate, new pests and diseases, and increasing human populations. If we want to conserve charismatic mammals like the tiger or the panda, we need to conserve the habitats and the plants at the base of the trophic pyramid. Thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us

The role of botanic gardens and specialist horticulture

Impediments to employing horticultural expertise

BGCI conservation tracker tool

BGCI Directory of Expertise

Findings

Conclusions