New Website Launched for Global Conservation Consortia

Botanic Gardens Conservation International, in collaboration with The Morton Arboretum and several additional partners, has launched the Global Conservation Consortia (GCC) website. It includes a section for each consortia currently in operation: the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO) page contains many resources that will be of interest to quercophiles. These are some of the highlights:

Oaks of China website

Prof. Fang Du working at Beijing Forestry University has created a website, Oaks of China, to show her research group's studies on Chinese oaks’ leaf shape variation, phylogeography, and genetic diversity among and within oak species. These studies have been carried out over the past ten years with students and colleagues. On the website, they have also introduced a high-quality genome assembly for Quercus aquifolioides, a widespread evergreen Chinese oak species.

Oak metacollections

GCCO participants developed Guidelines for establishing and managing an oak metacollection site in the US Region. This is the first version, which will be updated on a quarterly basis or as frequently as needed.

Identification workshops

The GCCO will host a free, online series of identification workshops, focusing on oaks in the Eastern US and in Southeast Asia. The workshops will provide a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the priority threatened oak species native to each region, providing useful information on how to identify the species out in the field, and more. Former IOS President Ron Lance will lead the identification workshops focusing on the 10 priority species in the Eastern US on November 9 and December 1, while Dr. Ngọc Nguyễn Văn, Dr. Joeri Sergej Strijk, Dr. Phetlasy Souladeth, and  Dr. Hoàng Văn Sâm will coordinate and lead workshops focusing on Southeast Asian oaks on November 11 and 25. Click on the links above for details and to register.

Visit the Resources section of the GCC website for more materials. Once there you can click on the GCCO logo (look for an oak leaf!) to filter for oak-related content, including videos of the kick-off meetings of GCCO regional meetings (United Sates and Mexico & Central America) and the GCCO Newsletter Archive. Be sure to check out the Ways to Participate page to learn how you can contribute to the GCCO's exciting work.