Saving Endangered Plants
J.E. Shields (Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:28:58 PDT)

Hi all,

I visited the CPC at Mobot once and talked for quite some time with Ms.
Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy was quite polite, perhaps because of my past
associations with conservation efforts for bulbs (IUCN bulb committee, v.p.
and director of conservation for I.B.S., all at least 10 years ago). I did
not approach her as a nurseryman. We had a good chat and she was able to
tell me about at least a couple successful re-introductions into the
wild. I had been skeptical of it up until that point, because it usually
just hasn't worked. So C.P.C. is doing some reasonable things, and has had
at least a couple preliminary successes.

Some of my best friends work for botanic gardens (Hi, Boyce!) but I have
also encountered Obsessive Compulsive behavior, perhaps colored by
self-interest, among botanical garden folks. There is a strong tendency to
want to monopolize the whole subject. However, when I tried to find
refuges in botanical gardens for rare bulb species being salvaged from
development sites in Sprain, I got short shrift. We had all the proper
papers, and they included my signature promising not to let the bulbs get
into commercial channels. I eventually did get them all placed with
reasonably secure institutions, but no one would or could guarantee me that
they would not have been destroyed or lost in the future. I'm not really
confident that any of them are still alive.

It's tough world out there, and I am absolutely convinced that anything
humanity does not actively preserve will not survive the next century or
so. I fear it will be ex situ preservation or no conservation at
all. Tony makes a strong argument for propagation and distribution through
nurseries.

Jim Shields

*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Lat. 40° 02.8' N, Long. 086° 06.6' W