Project Summary: The cooperative CPC network conserves and restores the rare native plants of the U.S. CPC maintains the National Collection of Endangered Plants, more than 600 of the nation's most imperiled flora.
Resource Challenge
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, CPC relies on private donors, grants and other funding sources to operate. Donations to CPC help add to the endowment for the National Collection of Endangered Plants. Donations of $10,000 fully sponsor a plant in perpetuity so that it can be monitored, collected for seed, and restored in the wild.
Examples of Key Partners
The CPC network consists of 33 major botanical institutions across the country that have made a scientific, philosophical and financial commitment to plant conservation. The network has 123 full-time scientists, more than 1,800 volunteers and interns. CPC’s institutions are engaged in more than 260 research and recovery projects and monitor more than 1,090 rare plant sites nationwide. CPC also works with several federal and state agencies to help study imperiled plants on federal lands.
Results and Accomplishments
Robbins cinquefoil (Pontentilla robbinsiana), one of the species in the national collection, has been so successfully restored in the wild that it has been removed from the federal Endangered Species List.CPC participating institutions are restoring numerous plant populations in the wild, and we know that restoration really can succeed.
Innovation/Highlight
Live plant material is collected from nature under controlled conditions and then carefully maintained as seed, rooted cuttings or mature plants. Network institutions conduct horticultural research and carefully monitor these materials so that imperiled plants can be grown and returned to natural habitats. Several CPC institutions are also involved in restoration projects in the field (in situ). Scientists are stabilizing current populations of imperiled plants and reintroducing new populations in appropriate habitats. These conservation efforts are undertaken to complement other preservation activities for our nation’s flora, such as habitat protection and management. Off-site storage and cultivation of genetically appropriate plant material is a critical step in supporting restoration in the wild. CPC’s goal is to protect the most imperiled U.S. plants from extinction and restore them to secure habitats in cooperation with multiple conservation agencies and organizations.
Project Contact
Mark F. Barnett Communications Coordinator Center for Plant Conservation P.O. Box 299 St. Louis, MO 63166 314.577.9541 mark.barnett@mobot.org
Private Landowner Network
Maine Conservation Center
Houston Intra-Met
California Conservation Center
Mississippi Conservation Center
Arkansas Conservation Center
Resources First Foundation