News published: 18 December 2025

Madagascar is facing an increasing threat from plant poaching, with succulents among the most heavily targeted species. Because many of these plants grow extremely slowly, determining their age remains one of the major challenges limiting effective conservation efforts.

We invite botanical gardens and succulent enthusiasts to join a collaborative initiative by recording simple measurements of Malagasy succulent species held in your collections. Your contributions will help establish a reliable relationship between plant size and age, filling a critical knowledge gap and directly supporting the conservation of endangered Malagasy succulents.

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please contact us at p.rajaonariveloandrianina@kew.org for further details.