The BotSoc Conservation Programme has achieved much over more than 110 years. While BotSoc’s conservation work was initially geared towards support to national botanical gardens, this soon grew to include new innovative projects across the country. In 2020, the conservation programme was re-assessed with the support of leading experts in the field, who were represented on our Conservation Committee. Through this group, the programme was redesigned to target new and emerging threats. Since then we’ve implemented numerous projects and programmes, guided by South Africa’s Plant Conservation Strategy.

Our BotSoc Conservation Strategy is aligned to our six focus areas:

FOCUS AREA 1: Responding to the plant-poaching crisis

FOCUS AREA 2: Protecting important plant areas and threatened species

FOCUS AREA 3: Increasing human conservation capacity and awareness

FOCUS AREA 4: Creating conservation career opportunities for youth

FOCUS AREA 5: Supporting botanical gardens and plant collections

FOCUS AREA 6: Promoting wise management of important plant habitats

One of our first calls to action was to provide support to activate our branches across South Africa to get even more involved in plant conservation. The two international bioblitzing events, the City Nature Challenge and the Great Southern Bioblitz offered the ideal platforms to excite our members and branches to observe nature, and enjoy collecting information on what they have seen. Each year, more and more BotSoc members join these events – with their findings feeding into conservation planning.

BotSoc also showcased our conservation programme and work at various national forums, including the Conservation Symposium and the Fynbos Forum.

Mapping our branches

Branches need to understand their geographic boundaries exactly, and these were reviewed with the new boundaries concluded in 2022. These boundaries are more accurately based on ecological and political spatial information, thereby steering branch conservation activities better.

The national conservation team, working with our SANBI and CREW partners, also compiled Branch Biodiversity Priority Reports. These reports highlight the botanical priorities in each branch area and provide additional resources to support on-the-ground conservation activities.

Speaking up for nature: EIAs

At the launch of our new conservation strategy, it became clear that there was little information available on how to provide Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) input in order to protect threatened plant species. As such, BotSoc contracted EIA specialist Luke Verburgt of Enviro-Insight to compile an online course for BotSoc members. This course material was initially introduced to representatives selected from each branch. Now the information is readily available to BotSoc members only.

Knowledge sharing for plant lovers

The BotSoc team hosts monthly plant conservation webinars. These are led by BotSoc staff or guest presenters, who chat to experts on a plant-related theme. The webinars are held via Zoom, and are available here.

Branches at work

Across South Africa, our BotSoc branches are undertaking on-the-ground conservation projects, from alien clearing and ecological restoration to research and mentoring support. These are funded and supported both by branches and by our national BotSoc team.

Conservation partners

We work with a number of key partners in order to collectively achieve our conservation goals. The Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) are key partners to the conservation team, and help us mobilise teams of citizen scientists. We also work closely with scientists from SANBI, as well as other government departments, conservation authorities and non-profit organisations.

Get involved

Support our conservation programme as we work across the country to protect threatened plant species and reduce ongoing loss.