What is GPCA

All of our research and conser­va­tion activ­i­ties have an edu­ca­tio­nal com­po­nent, whether it is hands-on train­ing for under­gra­d­u­ate stu­dents, conser­va­tion hor­ti­cul­ture activ­i­ties for adult vol­un­teers, or staff pre­sen­ta­tions on cam­pus and at pro­fes­sio­nal meet­ings. Our exten­sive col­lec­tions of endan­gered spe­cies and research plots in the Mim­sie Lanier Cen­ter for Native Plant Studies are excep­tio­nal resources for for­mal and infor­mal instruc­tion. Under­gra­d­u­ate stu­dents at the Uni­ver­sity of Georgia have the oppor­tu­nity to par­ti­ci­pate in habi­tat res­to­ra­tion pro­jects at the Garden by enrolling in the ser­vice-learn­ing course “Conserv­ing Native Plants” (Hor­ti­cul­ture 3333S) offered every spring semester. Our pro­grams depend on vol­un­teer and stu­dent par­ti­ci­pa­tion for suc­cess, and we would love to have your help!

Conservation Projects

The goal of the Georgia Plant Conser­va­tion Alliance (GPCA) is to pre­vent local ext­inc­tions of rare plant pop­u­la­tions. Since these rare plants are part of larger nat­u­ral habi­tats, the GPCA works in situ, in the habi­tats them­selves, in order to ben­e­fit the spe­cies that live in these habi­tats. Backup pop­u­la­tions are usu­ally cre­ated on pro­tected land. Indexed mate­rials are always used so as to safe­guard the rare plant spe­cies in the wild. When the plant repro­duces sex­u­ally on its own, that is a sure sign that the safe­guard­ing pop­u­la­tion is tak­ing hold! From there, the work cont­in­ues with habi­tat man­age­ment and ongo­ing mon­i­tor­ing.

The GPCA has so far worked with more than forty rare plant spe­cies and through the full cir­cle of conser­va­tion: seed to seed, pro­p­a­gat­ing plants ex situ and return­ing the care­fully tracked and sourced plants to the wild for safe­guard­ing. This work is made pos­si­ble by the part­n­ers of the GPCA, whose areas of exper­tise run the full gamut of conser­va­tion biol­ogy. For exam­ple, the GPCA's new aggres­sive conser­va­tion ini­tia­tive tar­gets a pri­or­i­tized list of crit­i­cally endan­gered plant spe­cies. The list was assem­bled by a team of botanists, ecol­o­gists and conser­va­tion pro­fes­sio­n­als from through­out Georgia, and it was coor­d­i­nated by the Georgia Depart­ment of Nat­u­ral Resources as part of the State Wildlife Action Plan (formerly the Com­pre­hen­sive Wildlife Conser­va­tion Strat­egy). Spe­cially-trained Botanical Guar­dians vol­un­teers work with GPCA sci­en­tists to locate pop­u­la­tions of these rare plants, assess their sites and col­lect seeds for pro­p­a­ga­tion at GPCA Botanical gar­dens. With­out the coop­er­a­tion of all these dif­fer­ent groups and indi­vi­d­u­als, the work the GPCA does would not be pos­si­ble.

Botanical Guardians

The Botanical Guar­dians vol­un­teer net­work has been described as our “hands and eyes across the state” by our col­leagues at the Georgia Depart­ment of Nat­u­ral Resources. Guar­dians who have received spe­cial train­ing work along­side conser­va­tion pro­fes­sio­n­als on a vari­ety of pro­jects such as pop­u­la­tion mon­i­tor­ing (our Local Ste­wards pro­jects), seed col­lect­ing and inva­sive spe­cies remo­val. Trusted vol­un­teers help plant safe­guard­ing pop­u­la­tions for Georgia’s most imper­iled plant spe­cies and help res­tore Georgia’s most crit­i­cally rare habi­tats. We need more vol­un­teers, and we will train you. The only require­ments are that you are pas­sio­nate to learn and promise to keep site loca­tions of rare plants a secret.

GPCA Students Today

Because of the GPCA's con­nec­tions across the state and across many sci­en­tific dis­ci­p­lines, we are able to assist stu­dents in their research of rare spe­cies and their habi­tats. We can quickly track pro­jects in the field, lab and green­house. Many of the stu­dents we help develop into conser­va­tion pro­fes­sio­n­als, and many estab­lish their careers in Georgia and the South­east­ern United States. The last­ing effect our help has on these stu­dents makes assist­ing them one of our great­est accom­plish­ments as a conser­va­tion net­work.

It is also our plea­sure to aid conser­va­tion pro­fes­sio­n­als with their research, col­lec­tion of plant mate­rial or loca­tion of plant pop­u­la­tions. Con­tact us if we can lend a hand with your Georgia conser­va­tion pro­ject.

GPCA Members & Partners

Though the State Botanical Garden of Georgia is the head­quar­ters of the Georgia Plant Conser­va­tion Alliance (GPCA), the GCPA exists beyond the Garden walls. It is not only a net­work of conser­va­tion organi­za­tions; it is a net­work of peo­ple with real per­so­nal com­mit­ments to each other and their work. “It's all about the plants,” is the man­tra that helps bypass the insti­tu­tio­nal egos and com­pet­i­tive atti­tudes. If a col­league from a museum or agency can­not make a field trip, others from the GPCA net­work can cover for them, ensur­ing that seeds are col­lected or pop­u­la­tions are mon­i­tored. Mem­bers of the GPCA are a plea­sure to work with both per­so­n­ally and pro­fes­sio­n­ally, and the GPCA has grown organ­i­cally through col­lab­o­ra­tion since its found­ing in 1995. There is always plenty of work to do. If you would like to work with us, con­tact us.

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