PlantNetwork's Target 8 project: the survey stages

Abstract

The aim of PlantNetwork’s Target 8 project is to involve botanic and other collections-led gardens
throughout Britain (and eventually Ireland also) to cultivate nationally threatened vascular plant
species. In this way, if each garden were to ‘adopt’ 2–3 threatened species then the network
of British botanic gardens could collectively cultivate almost all of the 204 threatened species
found in Britain, and therefore fulfill the requirements of Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant
Conservation. However, before such a project could start, baseline information on the number and
diversity of threatened plants in British ex situ collections was required. Along with this, species
dossiers compiling cultivation and conservation details were considered necessary for the success
of the project. Furthermore, practical details of the project such as collection and representation
needed to be discussed with curators. This paper describes the background, survey work and
practical aspects of the project.