Plant Heritage has a unique mission to protect the diversity of cultivated plants
We're the home of the National Plant Collections and the Plant Guardian scheme. Through these flagship conservation programmes, we're protecting 100,000 plants for the future.
Plants growing in gardens might seem safer than those in the wild, but we're losing hundreds if not thousands every year. These plants are part of our shared history, like priceless artworks or museum artefacts. They're also a valuable future resource. Our five year conservation strategy helps us to keep to the highest standards. We learn from global best practice, and share what we learn so others benefit. Partnership is a core principle for us. Our small staff team works with hundreds of volunteers, thousands of members and trusted partner organisations. Together, we achieve far more than any of us could alone.
Lucy Skellorn with her historical National Collection of Iris bred by Sir Michael Foster
Richard Bloom
Our conservation strategy 2025-2030
Over the next five years, we aim to:
- increase the number of cultivated plants conserved
- develop and maintain good standards of curation
- inform and engage others with our conservation work
- engage with global thinking on issues around plant conservation