ELA/BGCI-US AFFILIATION FAQs
New England Botanic Garden recently announced some exciting news: a formal affiliation with leading international and national environmental organizations, the U.S. branch of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI-US) and the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA). We invite you to read more about the aims of this new partnership in our blog or explore more below.
What are the Garden’s goals?
Through this partnership, the Garden aims to support two important, like-minded organizations while also advancing its own strategic priorities. This partnership will allow the Garden to better convene peer institutions and thought leaders in public horticulture around plant conservation and plant-based solutions to climate change and to emerge as a leader on national and international platforms.
Why now?
As human development, habitat degradation, and climate change continue to threaten plant species and entire ecosystems around the globe, partnering with mission-aligned organizations like ELA and BGCI-US couldn’t be more important or more timely. Botanic gardens have always been places of learning, but they also play a critical role in conservation and research. The wealth of knowledge housed within living plant collections can inform environmental work happening across sectors among horticulture professionals, plant scientists, policy makers, community organizers, businesses, and individuals. New England Botanic Garden is excited to take steps toward more active conservation and ecological horticulture advocacy.
Who are the partnering organizations?
Both BGCI-US and ELA are nonprofit organizations that operate through membership models. BGCI-US engages around 160 botanic gardens in North America in efforts to secure plant diversity, conduct research, and advance the mission of its globally operating parent organization, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Member gardens care for globally significant living plant collections, world class seed banks, and tissue culture infrastructure. Additionally, BGCI provides the botanic garden community with conservation tools, educational resources, and information to protect threatened plants across North America and around the world for the benefit of all.
While BGCI-US works internationally to increase the impact of conservation efforts by North American botanic gardens, ELA educates landscape professionals across the U.S. about the value of biological diversity. Its membership base of 1,300 individuals and organizations includes leading ecological horticulture experts who promote sustainable approaches to landscape design, construction, and management. ELA regularly publishes resources and convenes practitioners from across the country around the most pressing topics in ecological horticulture. For several years running, the Garden has partnered with ELA to host annual conferences and professional workshops onsite.
How does this formal affiliation impact the Garden?
This partnership brings the leadership base of both BGCI-US and ELA to New England Botanic Garden and will strengthen all three organizations in plant conservation, research, and ecological horticulture practice. All three organizations maintain their individual missions and their independent boards of directors, but collaborating enables each to leverage their resources toward shared goals.
By affiliating with New England Botanic Garden, BGCI-US and ELA gain practical support to expand their missions. They also gain much-desired executive leadership. As part of the partnership, the Garden has agreed to host a full-time position for an executive director to lead both BGCI-US and ELA. Filling this new role is Mark Richardson, the Garden’s most recent director of horticulture.
When does this start?
The Garden announced the news on July 29, 2024, and the formal details of the partnerships have been agreed to by all organizations. The practical details are already underway!