About 4,500 species of plants in the U.S. and Canada are considered to be of conservation concern and almost 1,000 are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
That’s according to a group of conservation professionals meeting at the San Diego Zoo this week.
More than 42 members of the Center for Plant Conservation, a network of participating botanic gardens and plant conservation organizations throughout the United States, including San Diego Zoo Global, are meeting here to share and learn from each other the cutting-edge science and technology used to save rare and endangered flora.
Without human intervention, many of endangered plants will be gone within the next few decades. The CPC and its partnering institutions have become known world-wide as the leaders in saving endangered plants.
“Participants in this year’s meeting not only represent the leading expert in plant conservation in the country, but the world,” said John Clark, CEO and president of Center for Plant Conservation. “Through this effort, more endangered plants have a chance at survival.”
San Diego Zoo Global’s wildlife conservation efforts have included both plants and animals. The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are home to one of the most extensive collections of plants anywhere in North America and many of them are imperiled, according to zoo officials.
The botanical focus of San Diego Zoo Global is on sustainability and restoration of native ecosystems, seed science, habitat monitoring and management, plant-animal interactions and recovery programs for rare and endangered species.
The Center for Plant Conservation is based in Escondido at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.
— City News Service