This issue of BGjournal focuses on the contribution botanic gardens have made to the implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), With its 16 targets to be achieved by 2020, the GSPC forms an integral part of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and is being implemented at local, national and global level by a wide range of stakeholders.

It is clear that collectively, botanic gardens have made a greater contribution to the GSPC than any other stakeholder group. Many have incorporated relevant GSPC targets into their institutional strategies and the targets have been adopted by botanic garden networks across the globe. The articles in this issue particularly highlight the impressive progress that has been made towards achieving Targets 1 and 2 (Information on plant diversity and its conservation status) and Target 8 (ex situ conservation), while emphasising the importance of partnerships and networks in achieving conservation goals (Target 16).

This issue includes a feature article on Singapore Botanic Garden, the new host for BGCI’s Southeast Asia Network office and an interview with Chipper Wickman President of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) in Hawai’i and one of the main architects of the Hawai’i Strategy for Plant Conservation.