Center for Plant Conservation, Inc.

The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a one-of-a-kind network of conservation partners, collectively known as CPC Participating Institutions (PIs; now including more than 60 institutions), that collaboratively work to save the 4,400 kinds of imperiled plants of the United States and Canada.

How we Save Plants:
- We advance the science of saving plants.
- We apply this science to save imperiled plant species here in the U.S. and Canada.
- We advocate on behalf of our collective efforts to Save Plants and promote the value of plants to humankind.

Greater than the sum of its parts, the CPC network saves more plant species together than would ever be possible alone. This is done through the timely sharing of information, data and expertise and facilitated by the community of practice that is CPC where the world’s experts regularly convene to discuss and apply methods that result in far greater numbers of plants saved from extinction.

CPC PIs maintain the CPC National Collection of Endangered Plants, a living conservation collection of imperiled plants, by working to collect and manage living seeds and plants, advancing our understanding of threats as well as means to save these species, and by communicating with partners within the CPC network to ensure that all are using the best and most up-to-date means possible to Save Plants.

To date, we now have over one third of North American imperiled plants (1,500 of 4,400 kinds) secured in the CPC National Collection. An important conservation resource, the Collection is a backup in case a species becomes extinct or no longer reproduces in the wild. Live plant material is collected from nature under controlled conditions and then carefully maintained as seed, rooted cuttings or mature plants.

We have active research programs going on in dozens of organizations in the U.S., all working to overcome conservation challenges for the remaining two thirds of imperiled North American plants. Challenges such as seed storage, plant propagation and preservation/recovery of species in the wild, are all being addressed by CPC partners.

CPC’s model of collaborative work and a shared responsibility to Save Plants, a world first, has been used as the basis for other national and global efforts. Our guidelines, developed over decades of intensive collaborative work, are used by many organizations and plant conservationists around the world to Save Plants.