Cultivate Issue 11: Mayday

Dear Plant Supporters

It's May, and it puts me in mind of Mayday, which has many meanings, and as it turns out, they are very relevant to plant conservation today.

MAYDAY is a distress call used to signal an emergency. Used three times in a row, it indicates significant, life-threatening danger.

May Day is also a day of celebration in many countries, in some places, the time to celebrate the arrival of spring and renewal of the earth's fertility.

The urgency of plant conservation is getting greater than ever before as extinction rates accelerate and climate change takes hold.

There are a whole range of ways we can all change to meet the challenges facing us. Let's explore them and make as much change as we can, right now.

Best wishes,
Sarah Dixon
Editor
cultivate@bgci.org

IUCN Red List Call to Action

The IUCN's update of its Red List has highlighted the fact that very poor progress is being made in the fight to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. 784 species have gone extinct since the last count including the St Helena Olive, pictured (© Rebecca Cairns-Wicks)

Mediterranean plants, conifers and cycads are among the most vulnerable plant groups. If you work in a botanic garden, you can help by checking our threatened species list and securing specimens to keep in cultivation for posterity. Remember to consider any Access and Benefit Sharing issues that may arise.

Find out more about the new Red List and take action now

Climate is the hottest topic of the year so far, but political will and a mass movement for change are still lacking. Without those key factors we will be unable to prevent the disasters scientists have been predicting for the past 30 years - and that have already begun happening.

Or so say the authors of a new book, 'Hard Rain' - a photo-illustration of Bob Dylan's 60's song.

They have also launched a website as a forum for debate around the issue and the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, will be hosting an exhibition of the photographs.

Read our Review of 'Hard Rain' in Full

The botanic gardens community are responding to the climate change threat and held a meeting in April on the subject. The meeting led to a declaration that will be announced shortly.

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Botanic gardens really do hold the key to protection and adaptation of plants to climate change and if you agree with the message of Hard Rain you will want to see botanic gardens well supported in the race to keep up with environmental change.

Plant Conservation Day - May 18th

Plants are the backbone of life on Earth and an essential resource for human well-being. Yet despite our reliance on plants, as many as 100,000 plant species are threatened with extinction in their native habitats around the world.

On May 18, 2006, you too could celebrate Plant Conservation Day. BGCI US has developed an online toolkit for botanic gardens professionals with loads of resources for successful Plant Conservation Day celebrations in your botanic garden.

www.plantconservationday.org

There is an ever greater realisation that poverty and environmental degradation go hand-in-hand. BGCI's Report on Well-being and Biodiversity showcases how botanic gardens can and are helping to beat both problems at once.

It features case studies from botanic gardens around the world and is available to all in PDF format.

It has received a lot of interest from the worldwide media, and as Suzanne Sharrock of BGCI pointed out in Nature magazine, "There are botanical gardens in every country in the world, and in every major city," says Sharrock. "They have the potential to be a very powerful force."

So.. what are you waiting for? Let's Go Save Some Plants!