<i>Ex Situ</i> Conservation


BGCI: The global network Our work Preventing plant extinctions Africa Asia Central and South America China Eurasia Europe North America Southeast Asia Islands Cactus and Succulent Survey Plants for people Medicinal plants Human well-being Livelihoods The Global Trees Campaign Magnolia Oaks Trees of Central Asia Maples Rhododendrons Policy frameworks Gran Canaria II GSPC BGCI Policy Tools International Agenda International Frameworks CITES Manual Education Global Island Plant Conservation Network GIPC Statement The GIPCN Areas of intervention Upcoming events Literature Sources of funding Ecological restoration The role of botanic gardens Ecological Restoration Alliance Images of restoration projects Our supporters and partners Join in Resource centre Education centre Climate change information centre PlantSearch GardenSearch Sign up to our newsletter:	Our work > Ex Situ Conservation Ex Situ Conservation Ex situ conservation is the conservation and maintenance of samples of living organisms outside their natural habitat, in the form of whole plants, seed, pollen, vegetative propagules, tissue or cell cultures. Ex situ conservation has several purposes: Rescue threatened germplasm. Produce material for conservation biology research. Bulk up germplasm for storage in various forms of ex situ facility. Supply material for various purposes to remove or reduce pressure from wild collecting. Grow those species with recalcitrant seeds that cannot be maintained in a seed store. Make available material for conservation education and display. Produce material for reintroduction, reinforcement, habitat restoration and management. These ex situ collections of living organisms (living collections, seed banks, pollen, vegetative propagules, tissue or cell cultures) need to be managed according to strict scientific and horticultural standards to maximise their value for conservation purposes. Thus they need to be correctly identified, documented and managed and an efficient information management system put in place. Integrated conservation management can also ensure that ex situ collections can support in situ conservation, through habitat restoration and species recovery. Articles on Collections for Ex Situ Conservation Discussion of policies and strategies for ex situ conservation. Plant collection policies - are guidelines needed? Strategies for Survival: Ex Situ Plant Conservation - Report of a Research Symposium Held at the Chicago Botanic Garden De-accessions policy for plant collections: responsibility versus practicality Overviews of the ex situ collections in botanic gardens. Botanic Garden Seed Banks/Genebanks Worldwide, their Facilities, Collections and Networks Update of the International Review of the Ex Situ Plant Collections of the Botanic Gardens of the World The BGCI PlantSearch Database provides a central source of information about plants held in botanic gardens. PlantSearch Database Developing the BGCI Database on Botanic Gardens and their Collections Worldwide Specific Examples and Case studies Many of our journal articles discuss the problems and progress that botanic gardens have made towards the ex situ conservation of certain plant taxa. Please follow the links to the articles in the green box to the right of this text, or browse our journal archive. You can also download a presentation of the challenges in revising collection policy faced by Montreal Botanical Garden, presented by Michel Labrecque at the 2nd World Botanic Garden Congress, Barcelona, Spain, in April 2004. Challenges of collection policy revision at the Montreal Botanical Garden (ZIP file, 3.9MB contains PPT presentation). You can also see a review of a recent book "Ex situ plant conservation supporting species survival in the wild" edited by by Edward O. Guerrant Jr., Kayri Havens and Mike Maunder, 2004. Seed Banks Seed banks are essential for ex situ conservation, and many botanic gardens contribute and collect seeds for storage. However, setting up a bank, collecting and maintaining viable and representative stocks is very challenging. Read more... Botanic Gardens Community Toolbar BGCI has created a free community toolbar for people in botanic gardens around the world. You can add it easily to your internet browser. The toolbar gives you instant access to all our searches, gives the latest news on botanic gardens and there's even a chat facility for contacting colleagues. Read more...	Journal Articles *Status of Ex Situ* Conservation of Threatened Japanese Plant Species in Japanese Botanic Gardens July 2006 Support for the Conservation of Endemic Pacific Palms Through Ex Situ Collections at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), Hawaii, U.S.A June 2001 Regional ex situ Biodiversity Conservation Programmes at the Botanic Garden of the Tver State University, Russia December 2000 Fruit Germplasm Collection at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia June 2000 The Cycad Collection of Vumba Botanical Garden, Zimbabwe July 1997 Notes on the Collection of the Arboretum Borova Hora, Slovakia and its Approach to Genetic Conservation** December 1996 Frerea indica Dalz. an Endangered Palaeoendemic Moving Towards Extinction: an Attempt at ex situ Conservation December 1996 Conservation Assessment and Management Plan for St Helena: a Collaborative Workshop December 1994 Ex situ Conservation of Plant Biodiversity at Amritsar, India December 1994 Ex situ Conservation of Wild Plants in Beijing Botanical Garden, China July 1993 International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation The International Agenda is a global policy framework for botanic gardens worldwide to contribute to biodiversity conservation. Find out more about how botanic gardens are contributing here.