Botanic gardens and conservation
As we face the sixth great extinction event, the question
remains of what can be done to arrest the extinction crisis
for plants [1]. With over 2500 sites worldwide (see: http://
www.bgci.org/), botanic gardens represent the single largest
biological institutional capacity, able to deliver effective
plant conservation on all continents. But just how well
are botanic gardens placed to meet the global extinction
crisis? Are there models that demonstrate how to link ex
situ conservation collections in botanic gardens with effective
in situ programs that deliver improved conservation
management, reintroduction and ecological restoration
outcomes?
Paul Smith, director of the Millennium Seed Bank
(MSB) Project, Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew
(http://www.kew.org/msbp/index.htm), stated in June
2008 at the Kew Restoration Conference, ‘There is now
no technological reason why any species need go extinct’.
Although this statement was made in the context of securing
the long-term storage of seed, we ask whether this is
conservation. How well are botanic gardens placed technically
and scientifically to meet the global plant conservation
challenge? Using orchids as a model plant group that
epitomizes plant conservation science globally, we review
here the ways in which botanic gardens have developed the
science and technology required to conserve this highly
diverse family. To illustrate the role of botanic gardens in
orchid conservation, we propose that botanic gardens integrate
the science behind the two significant areas of orchid
ecology (pollinator interactions and mycorrhizal associations)
with the technologies of conservation genetics,
propagation for reintroduction and germplasm storage.
Using this combination of science and technology, botanic
gardens are well placed to promote public education and
awareness of the threats pertaining to orchids and their
effective conservation