Encouraging botanic gardens to do more plant conservation: tools and approaches

Botanic Gardens Conservation International The world s largest plant conservation network Encouraging botanic gardens to do more plant conservation: tools and approaches Dr Paul Smith, Secretary General, Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Diminishing plant diversity Joseph S. Venus 20% of plant species are threatened with extinction

Why plant diversity is important Plant-based solutions are required to address all of the major environmental challenges: Food security Water scarcity Energy Human health Biodiversity conservation Climate change

Why plant diversity is important Plant diversity enables human innovation, adaptation and resilience

The role of botanic gardens There is no technological reason why any plant species should become extinct

The role of botanic gardens Conservation, collections, research and education feature in most botanic garden mission statements and activities 80% of botanic gardens have Strategic Plans 65% of gardens have institutional measures of performance/success Botanic gardens are booming. The number of gardens has quadrupled over the last 30 years

The role of botanic gardens

The role of botanic gardens Top 10 institutional measures in botanic gardens (n = 119)

The role of botanic gardens Conservation: Specific conservation activities and impacts that a garden specialises in are rarely measured at the institutional level Research: Publications are frequently used as a surrogate for all research outputs Collections: 40% of gardens don t measure the use of their collections by third parties Education: 49% of gardens don t measure change of behaviour or attitudes amongst their visitors Specialist horticulture: 60% of gardens don t measure specific horticultural skills or specialisms.

A rational, cost-effective Global System The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation A review process (GPPC/BIP) A network of international institutions and ex situ collections (BGCI) A global portal of accession-level data (PlantSearch) A universal accessions information management system Advanced bioinformatics tools that allow users to mine characterisation data

3000 botanic gardens in the world

A rational, cost-effective Global System: infrastructures PlantBank, NSW, Australia GBOWS, Kunming, China Millennium Seed Bank, U.K. Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

A rational, cost-effective Global System: technical expertise

A rational, cost-effective Global System: collections PlantSearch: 1,342,972 collection records, representing 530,456 taxa, at 1,147 contributing institutions Estimated minimum proportion of total plant diversity in botanic gardens & arboreta: 93% of vascular plant families 57% of vascular plant genera 30% of vascular plant species 41% of threatened species are held in global ex situ collections Mounce, Smith & Brockington (2017). Ex situ conservation of plant diversity in the world s botanic gardens. Nature Plants (in press)

What we conserve well 62.8% of all flowering plants genera and 96.6% of conifer genera are conserved in botanic gardens

What we conserve well 60% of temperate species are conserved in botanic gardens

What we don t conserve well Only 25% of tropical species are conserved in botanic gardens

What we don t conserve well <5% of nonvascular genera (mosses, liverworts etc.)are conserved in botanic gardens Photo: Australian National Botanic Garden

What we don t conserve well Species that are technically difficult to grow Pilostyles thurberi (photo: D.L. Nickrent)

What we don t conserve well Lack of capacity. 82% of botanic gardens are located in the northern hemisphere Hydrostachys polymorpha (photo: D. Gwynne-Evans)

Threatened species At least 41% of known threatened species are conserved in botanic garden living collections and seed banks Threatened species are often harder to find and to grow However, only 10% of botanic garden collections capacity is dedicated to threatened plant species

Threatened species Eligmocarpus cynometroides (Madagascar). 12 trees remain. Pollinator unknown

Threatened species Leucadendron remotum (South Africa). Two populations. Threatened by seed predation

Threatened species Fernandoa abbreviata (Malawi). No seed set in 40 years. Pollinator unknown

Co-ordinate efforts: red listing ThreatSearch is the most comprehensive database of threat assessments for plants https://www.bgci.org/threat_search.php Geo-referenced global tree list complete and launched on BGCI website as GlobalTreeSearch https://www.bgci.org/global_tree_search.p hp RBG Kew Global Tree Assessment, co-ordinated by BGCI and the IUCN Global Tree Specialist Group, to be completed by 2020 Newton et al. (2015). Towards a Global Tree Assessment. Oryx doi:10.1017/s0030605315000137

Co-ordinate efforts: seed conservation 180 participating botanic gardens with seed banks RBG Kew https://www.bgci.org/plant-conservation/seedconservation/

Co-ordinate efforts: tree conservation Zero tree species extinctions All critically endangered tree species conserved in situ and/or backed up in botanic gardens, arboreta or seed banks 72 species protected in 2016 http://globaltrees.org/

Integrated tree conservation Malawi s national tree, the Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei). Plots set up in 8 sites across Malawi to test optimal growing conditions. 10 community nurseries established around Mulanje Revenue generation selling seedlings.

Co-ordinate efforts: ecological restoration 30 participating botanic gardens, managing 158 projects Erica verticillata, extinct in the wild for 100 years. Successfully reintroduced in South Africa http://www.erabg.org/index/

Co-ordinate efforts: partnerships We need botanic gardens to: Take a lead in establishing consortia to systematically conserve and manage exceptional species in their living collections: Rhododendron, Magnolia, Fraxinus, Camellia, Acer, Nepenthes, orchids, dipterocarps, alpines etc. Duplicate their important conservation collections with other gardens Fill the gaps in living collections, prioritising wild origin rare and threatened species.

Knowledge hub: training In 2016 BGCI trained >300 people from 126 institutions and 30 countries in: seed conservation nursery techniques conservation horticulture forest restoration survey and inventory red listing public engagement plant health/biosecurity

Accreditation

Mobilising funding and resources BGCI funds projects and training all around the world, equivalent to ten times what it receives in subscriptions from its members. In 2016 BGCI provided funding and/or training to >160 botanical institutions on 6 continents

Mobilising funding and resources On June 25 th this year, BGCI s International Advisory Council met in Geneva. This global leadership forum comprises the Directors of 25 gardens from the USA, China, UK, Switzerland, Georgia, France, Russia, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. For the first time we have an effective, representative forum driving policy for our professional community.

Accepting the challenge

Accepting the challenge Who else are we expecting to do the heavy lifting?

Connecting People Sharing Knowledge Saving Plants Our Mission is to mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UK www.bgci.org @bgci