Plant Health Protocols for the Reintroduction of Native Plants

Abstract

Many botanic gardens and conservation agencies are now cultivating threatened native species specifically for reintroduction programmes in response to the second part of Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). While collection, cultivation and reintroduction techniques are frequently discussed in workshops and described in papers, few seem to have considered the threats of introducing non-native pests, diseases, weeds and hybrids between different populations of the same species. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has been cultivating plants for its Target 8 programme since 2005 and now grows 82 per cent threatened Scottish species. It is running active reintroduction programmes for nine of these species with programmes planned for a further five species. In recent years increasing attention has been paid to reducing the risks of introducing non-native organisms and hybrids between different populations of native species into the wild.This paper describes the protocols that have been developed, including verification, screening for pests and diseases, averting spontaneous hybridisation and preparing plants for reintroduction.