News published 15 April 2024

Make your collections count!

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), in collaboration with Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest (Forestry England), is conducting a global conservation gap analysis of threatened conifers (taxa list below). This research will reveal key areas of conservation need within ex situ collections and in situ populations, and among genera, regions, and individual species. Ex situ accessions data, including wild provenance information, are a vital part of this analysis. Results from the following surveys will be published and used to prioritise the work of the Global Conservation Consortium for Conifers (which will be launched next month) and to inform conservation actions for conifers around the world.

How can you and your collections help?

We are seeking:

1. Accessions-level (provenance) information for conifers represented in living plant and seed collections
2. Information regarding current conservation actions that your institution is undertaking to protect threatened conifers.

Accessions Data

Target taxa/genera: Depending on which is easier for you, please send us either 1) accessions data for our target taxa specifically, or 2) accessions data for any/all of our target conifer families (Pinaceae, Podocarpaceae, Cephalotaxaceae, Cupressaceae, Araucariaceae, Taxaceae).

Format: Report (Excel or CSV) of accessions, including provenance information; please follow this template and send to: celia.aceae@bgci.org

Conservation Action Survey

If your institution is currently undertaking any conservation action to further protect conifers, we kindly request information regarding these initiatives. Please fill out this 15-30 minute survey.

Permission to Use Data

All data will be managed confidentially and securely, and we would be glad to chat with you if you have any concerns. Locality data will not be made public. Please note, by contributing data to this study, you are agreeing to BGCI’s Data Sharing Agreement and to the inclusion of your data in BGCI’s future PlantSearch Pedigree Module. The Pedigree Module is an accession-level version of BGCI’s PlantSearch database that will be launched later this year.

The deadline for providing collection information for this analysis is June 15, 2024. Please pass this request on to your colleagues and other institutions with relevant collections.

Please contact Celia Aceae if you have questions or if you could use our assistance compiling your data.

Many thanks for your support of this important initiative!