Conserving threatened Rhododendron species

Pink flowered Rhododendron platypodum

Prioritizing survival of threatened species Mortality is not unusual in botanic gardens. It is an inevitable consequence of attempting to grow a great many different plants, often of wild origin and from across the world. Each species or even individual is unique in its ability to thrive given different soils, temperatures, rainfall, and seasonal variability. […]

International oak collaborations for conservation collections and climate change planning

In working with the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO), Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) Melbourne obtained Quercus engelmannii acorns from Jim Henrich of Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden earlier this year. Jim Henrich and RBGV worked in collaboration to ensure the safe transfer and importation of acorns into Australia. With great success […]

Conserving the wealth of species in biodiversity hotspots

The Global Conservation Consortia (GCC) aim to pool efforts and expertise across national boundaries and between disciplines to prevent species extinctions in focal plant groups. GCC Erica coordinates an international response to such threats in the heaths, or heathers, of which hundreds of species are found only in South Africa’s spectacularly diverse Cape Floristic Region […]

Introducing the Global Conservation Consortium for <i>Nothofagus</i>

BGCI are pleased to announce the Global Conservation Consortium for Nothofagus, which will be led by Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in West Sussex, UK. With more than 20 percent of Nothofagus species threatened with extinction in the wild, there exists an urgent need to co-ordinate efforts to efficiently and effectively safeguard these important species. […]