Ex situ surveys identify the number of ex situ collections held worldwide of a specific species. Data from botanic gardens, arboreta and seed banks contributed to BGCI’s PlantSearch database and forms the basis for these studies.

Ex situ surveys identify threatened species which are not represented in a collection or species that are only found in very few collections, allowing the prioritisation of ex situ conservation actions.

More extensive ex situ surveys are also undertaken by BGCI. For example, the Global Survey of Ex situ Conifer Collections included information about the quality of conifer collections to identify if they could be used in recovery and restoration programmes.

Ex situ surveys also allow us to assess the progress towards Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation:

At least 75 per cent of threatened plant species in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least 20 per cent available for recovery and restoration programmes.

BGCI has also published an ex situ collections guide to aid botanic gardens in developing their collections to better support plant conservation.