CONSERVATION POLICY STATEMENT

The following policy statement was developed by an international consortium which included the representatives of the International Bulb Society, Alpine Garden Society (UK), North American Rock Garden Society, Chicago Botanic Garden and American Daffodil Society.

The total populations and diversity of many plant species across the world are in decline.  Habitats are faced with increasing threats of destruction as mankind continues to develop the environment for urban, agricultural and recreational uses.

Plant societies are dedicated to understanding, preserving, growing, selecting,  propagating and appreciating the natural flora of the earth.  As plant enthusiasts, we share a responsibility to embody the principles of conservation in such a way that our activities as gardeners, horticulturists and botanists are in harmony with the wider concerns of preserving the environment.

Collection of plant material from the wild has left some species of plants facing extinction.  The memberships of the undersigned organizations have agreed to abide by the following Code of Best Practice:

• We strive to support organizations that seek to preserve valuable wildlife habits as the sources for genetic variations and naturally thriving plants for generations to come.
  
  
• We do not support the practice of wholesale collection for resale of wild plants from their natural habitats.  We condemn the practice of misleading the public by calling such collected plants nursery grown or nursery propagated.
  
  
• We support the practice of collection of seeds, cuttings, divisions, and the occasional selected individual from large populations of wild plants by knowledgeable and responsible individuals for the purposes of growing, studying, selecting, hybridizing and ultimately propagating and distributing such material to others.

Our support is tendered only where the value of such collection lies in scientific research, preparing herbarium records or propagating such material for horticultural or conservation purposes, and is further based upon the provisos that:

• discretion is exercised in collecting seed, such that only part of the seed productions is taken
  
  
• living material is collected only in small amounts.
  
  
• in the case of rare plants, material is collected only upon a very limited basis and only where there is sufficient local stock to successfully perpetuate that population.
  
  
• We encourage our members to familiarize themselves with and comply with national and local legislation or regulations regarding the conservation of habitats and the collection of plant material.
  
  
• We support the sentiments of the various international conventions, such as CITES and the Biodiversity Convention.
  
  
• We welcome like-minded organizations to agree to follow this Code of Best Practice.

Schedules:  Each plant society or conservation organization is encouraged to list species or classes of plants whose dwindling populations are of imminent concern to them.  In this way, all groups can be guided by the knowledge of the specialists and share their concerns.