Give to the Annual Fund

Give to the Annual Fund

2017 Annual Appeal on Conservation

Read the Annual Appeal letter [pdf] by Arboretum Director William (Ned) Friedman. The letter highlights the story of the Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha), depicted here in flower, a great example of how botanical gardens like the Arnold Arboretum help conserve endangered plants.

Support Plant Conservation and the Campaign for the Living Collections

Many challenges threaten Earth’s natural resources, including over-exploitation, habitat loss and degradation, pollution, pests and diseases, and climate change. Consequently, scientists estimate that one of every five plant species is currently threatened with extinction. For more than a century, the Arnold Arboretum has been an international leader in botanical research by collecting, distributing, and studying species from around the world, many rare or endangered in their native habitats. Through ongoing botanical exploration, collaboration with a number of institutional partners, and the proper care and stewardship of conservation-status plants, the Arboretum makes the preservation of biodiversity a top priority.

Michael Dosmann and Acer griseum

Michael Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections, on expedition in western China in pursuit of the paperbark maple, Acer griseum. Originally introduced by the Arboretum following E. H. Wilson’s landmark expeditions to China in the early twentieth century, the paperbark maple is critically endangered in China today. Read about the 2015 NACPEC expedition to document its remaining populations.

Documenting and protecting vanishing biodiversity drives the Arboretum’s current Campaign for the Living Collections. Many of the approximately 400 species targeted for acquisition over the next decade are threatened in the wild, and will find safe harbor to thrive at the Arboretum—and perhaps eventually in their own native habitats through future reintroduction efforts. Your year-end contribution to the Campaign for the Living Collections will help the Arboretum to continue its important conservation work by supporting global expeditions and plant collections, expanded programs for propagation and cultivation, and strong partnerships for biodiversity preservation around the world.

Please support our efforts to conserve endangered plants with your gift to the Campaign for the Living Collections. If you would like to wire a contribution or make a gift of securities, please call 1.866.845.6596

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