Combating the illegal trade of plants requires a multi-pronged effort from a wide range of strategic partners. Thus, BGCI has launched a new initiative that draws on the extensive international reach of botanic gardens worldwide and their networks, partners and visitor outreach capacity. This vision has been unanimously endorsed by BGCI’s IAC with strong recognition of both the need for this new collaboration and the unique potential for botanic gardens to lead this important work.

A Global Campaign to Tackle the Illegal Trade in Plants

The Situation

The illegal trade of plants is a global problem for a multitude of reasons:

• Biodiversity loss
• Economic impact
• Ecosystem disruption
• Threat to endangered species
• Spread of invasive species
• Cultural and traditional knowledge loss
• Health and safety risks
• Revenue loss for Governments

However, many people remain largely unaware that there even is illegal trade in plants to say nothing of the wide-ranging negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, economies, and human health. Few are aware that more plant species go extinct annually than animals, with over-harvesting and illegal trade as major drivers of plant extinctions. All this while globally, illegal wildlife trade interventions by governments and conservation organisations primarily focus on rhinos, elephants, sharks, and a few other iconic animal species.

And the situation is getting worse. The internet has accelerated trade in plants and enabled sellers and buyers, who traditionally may never have been in contact, to trade with relative ease. This further facilitates the illegal trade and is creating unrealistic expectations of demands and needs for plant species. As a result, plants are being poached from the wild leading to local, and even in some cases global extinctions. This is disrupting local economies and negatively impacting local communities who may be directly or indirectly reliant on these plants for their livelihoods. In many cases, particularly on the internet, consumers don’t realise their purchases are contributing to the extinction of plant species in the wild and undermining legitimate livelihoods.

Creating a Global Movement

Designing a global campaign for a complicated challenge, such as reducing the illegal trade in plants, requires a rigorous and thoughtful process. The interrelated nature of illegal trade that cuts across borders requires a collective, coordinated, and global effort. To succeed at this scale, BGCI has created a partnership with the Commission on Education and Communication of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN CEC). While BGCI, with its many global partners and technical allies, brings the expertise and on-the-ground experience with working with plants, IUCN’s CEC is providing the process support in designing an effective behavioural change campaign.

The Impact we want

We aspire to create an “evergreen” campaign that will inspire a renewed focus on reducing the illegal trade in plants. Building on the robust network associated with Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the initiative is actively seeking partners from all sectors to support this important work. With an aim to support and empower BGCI members and the wider conservation community, BGCI will utilise this campaign to leverage our collective knowledge and expertise to reverse the threat of extinction facing plants.

Take Action

Would you like to get involved? We invite your participation in a crucial survey conducted by BGCI. It is a key component of our initiative aimed at combating the illegal trade of plant species worldwide. You can find out more and get involved, here.

We were delighted to see such an overwhelming level of support for this area of our work during our recent BigGive Green Fund Campaign (April 2024). Together we were able to raise over £20,000 to begin tackling this issue. Thank you to all who donated!

Further Information

Read Paul Smith’s blog “Exchanging and duplicating plant material responsibly”, where he looks at improving the ways in which we duplicate and exchange plant material in our professional community.