News published: 25 November 2025

The urgency of conserving and restoring ecosystems, driven by changes in land use and climatic pressures, has led many professionals from botanical gardens, arboreta, and related institutions in Central America and the Caribbean to become experts in the reproduction of their native plants. However, in many cases, this knowledge is not translated into published propagation protocols that can be used by other professionals. Having propagation protocols for species of interest can save months—or even years—of germination testing and monitoring in the nursery and in the field. Therefore, the Caribbean and Central American Botanic Gardens Network, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), and the Dr. Jorge León Arguedas Botanical Garden collaborated to organize the “Propagation Protocols for Endangered Trees” workshop.

The four-day workshop was held in September 2025 at the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Turrialba, Costa Rica, home to the Jardín Botánico Dr. Jorge León Arguedas. 23 participants from 11 Latin American and Caribbean countries participated, from botanical gardens and other plant conservation related institutions. The meeting involved knowledge exchange between participants and practical hands-on activities, with sessions facilitated by professionals from the Jardín Botánico de Cartagena, CATIE, and BGCI. Based on the Manual for Propagation Protocols, published by BGCI in 2024, topics such as sexual and vegetative propagation of forest species, viability testing, experimental design, germination and growth monitoring, planning protocols for endangered species, and considerations for their drafting and dissemination were addressed.

The main objective was to promote the publication of propagation protocols to avoid duplication of efforts between institutions and contribute to the conservation of native species threatened by the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. The workshop participants—ranging from expert horticulturists to young people just starting their careers in plant conservation—were committed to taking these new tools back to their countries to develop propagation protocols from their institutions. In this way, they will continue to generate a positive impact through their already impressive work conserving and propagating the region’s valuable plant diversity.

Thank you to our sponsors and facilitators!