GCCO Mexico and Central America: Advances and Challenges

Maricela Rodríguez-Acosta and Allen J. Coombes

Published May 2023 in International Oaks No. 34: 117–124

Abstract

At the end of 2019, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) proposed a new initiative to protect trees: Global Conservation Consortia, each focused on a specific group of plants of special interest. To date, eight such Consortia have been created, coordinated by BGCI, with the one for oaks led by the Morton Arboretum.

In 2020, a regional branch of GCCO (Global Conservation Consortium for Oak) was established for Mexico and Central America. The main task has been to develop a network to encourage the efforts of all those working with oaks, including scientists, conservationists, institutions, and other organizations. The network’s objectives are to determine the distribution of threatened oaks, to introduce them into cultivation, and to prevent further reduction in natural populations or their extinction.

Herein we report on the most important achievements of this GCCO regional branch, as well as on how these efforts are benefitting oaks in the wild.

Keywords

oaks, Quercus, Consortium, BGCI

References

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