ID: 613 / 32

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: GLOBAL CONSERVATION CONSORTIA: INTEGRATED PLANT CONSERVATION ON A GLOBAL SCALE

Abstract: Biodiversity is in crisis, with over a million threatened species and ongoing decline of species and populations. To accelerate effective conservation of global plant diversity, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and numerous partners have established a suite of Global Conservation Consortia (GCC), which catalyse groups of institutions and experts to collaboratively develop and implement comprehensive strategies to prevent extinction of priority threatened plant groups. Eight such consortia have been established to date, focussed on Acer, cycads, dipterocarps, Magnolia, Nothofagus, oak, Rhododendron and Erica, with further consortia proposed. Primary objectives include coordinated in situ and ex situ conservation efforts and dissemination of species recovery knowledge. In this symposium, we will introduce the GCC approach, and highlight methodologies/processes, successes and challenges, as well as present case studies detailing a range of conservation activities from across the GCC network. Attendees will learn about these integrated conservation programmes, and how they can join, to help meet their institutional conservation goals and maximize the impact of their efforts, no matter their capacity. The featured subjects emphasize the value of coordinated efforts across sectors, building conservation capacity in global diversity hotspots, and via the GCC, provides a model for overcoming the challenges of effective plant conservation. Topics including developing networks, coordinating living collections, gap analysis, integrating systematic research, leveraging funding and implementing protective actions will be discussed, cultivating conversations around conservation and empowering action. The symposium will include time for discussion attendees around how they might contribute to existing consortia, and will encourage the development of further GCCs.

Speaker 1: Amy Byrne The Morton Arboretum, 4100 IL-53 Lisle, IL, 60532, USA abyrne@mortonarb.org. “Establishing ex situ conservation collections through collaborative partnerships”

Speaker 2: Emily Coffey Atlanta Botanical Garden, 1345 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA, 30309, ecoffey@atlantabg.org. “Ex situ gap analyses: informing prioritization for conservation action”

Speaker 3: Vanessa Handley Montgomery Botanical Center, 11901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, FL, 33156 vanessa@montgomerybotanical.org. “Cycads on the Brink: building genetically informed metacollections to mitigate extinction risk”

Topics (Up to three): Conservation Biology

Topic 2: Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics

Topic 3: Systematics and taxonomy

Justification: The fundamental aim of the Global Conservation Consortia, preventing species extinctions, falls under topic 7. (conservation biology). However, the GCCs bring together a range of disciplines and diverse specialists spread across botanic gardens and botanical institutes worldwide. Research topics underlying e.g., conservation prioritization, span topics such as 22. (Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics) and 31. (Systematics and taxonomy), and we anticipate that both the diverse plant groups encompassed and the urgent relevance of the theme as a whole will interest a broad swathe of the botanical community.