In August 2024, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) published a Technical Review: The Importance of Botanic Gardens in Tackling the Illegal Plant Trade (bgci.org/news-events/bgci-2024-technical-review-published). Plant poaching is on the rise, resulting in the loss of many species, both in the form of functional extinction in the wild and complete extinction. Tackling this issue has spurred both this 2024 Technical Review and also a new public awareness campaign (bgci.org/our-work/inspiring-and-leading-people/policy-and-advocacy/illegal-plant-trade) that uses the international reach of botanic gardens to work with a range of strategic partners to tackle the illegal trade in wild plants. Examples of actions being taken by the botanical community are given across 16 case studies responding to five themes of work: (1) propagation and maintaining collections, (2) visitors and education, (3) research and technology, (4) engagement with law enforcement, and (5) collaboration and networks. The threat to plants from trafficking is pervasive, occurring in many biodiversity hotspots and affecting many botanical and horticultural favourites, including cycads, orchids and cacti and other succulents. The global reach of botanic gardens through their visitors is an opportunity to raise awareness of the damage caused by buying plants from unsustainable sources, including through social media platforms. Botanic gardens also provide a refuge for confiscated specimens, and house world-leading expertise on the conservation and management of threatened plants.
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