The Atlanta Botanical Garden has been awarded a National Leadership Grant of nearly $750,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to expand its collaborative work with other public gardens in providing support, training and tools for better managing living plant collections.  

The garden is joining with The Morton Arboretum, Montgomery Botanical Center and San Diego Botanic Garden, and will engage the Botanic Garden of Smith College, the Donald E. Davis Arboretum and Ganna Walska Lotusland as partners in the project. The group includes members of the Global Conservation Consortia, an initiative that aims to mobilize a coordinated network of institutions and experts to jointly develop and implement comprehensive conservation strategies for priority threatened plant groups.

The project, “Growing Metacollections and Strengthening Gardens for a Conservation Consortia Future,” will leverage the momentum of the Global Conservation Consortia for Magnolia, Oak and Cycad to continue to develop and track conservation collections of priority species, provide tools and training on conservation gap analysis methodologies and to expand the consortia. The project partners also will conduct genetic analysis to inform collection management and evaluate and promote interpretive materials including panels and information sheets as content for gardens to use in educational activities on conservation collections. 

The ultimate goal of the three-year project is to empower gardens of all sizes to manage and conserve living plant collections.

“We are so grateful for this grant, which will allow our Conservation & Research team to continue to collaborate with our partners and expand the great work they all are doing in managing the conservation of plants that are threatened with loss,” said Mary Pat Matheson, the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s President & CEO. “This generous support comes at a critical time as we all strive to save the planet.”