Ex situ surveys analyse collection data from botanic gardens, arboreta and seed banks, stored in BGCI’s PlantSearch database, identifying gaps in ex situ conservation action for plants.

Ex situ surveys identify plants absent from ex situ collections and those found in very few collections, allowing the prioritisation of ex situ conservation actions.

Alongside conserving plants in their natural habitat (in situ), it is also important to ensure that threatened plants are found in well-managed ex situ collections, providing an insurance policy for wild populations and mitigating the risks posed by natural disaster. To maximise conservation value, ex situ collections should be genetically diverse, to enable recovery and restoration programmes.

BGCI has also published an ex situ collections guide to aid botanic gardens in developing their collections to better support plant conservation.