The Sacramento Orchid Society (SOS) Strongly encourages Orchid Conservation.
Sadly, orchid species are becoming extinct faster than they can be described and classified. Threats to orchids originate primarily from loss of habitat and collecting.
The SOS (Sacramento Orchid Society) advocates the purchase of only artificially propagated orchids, either from meristems (clones) or seeds, which will help discourage the collecting of orchid species at home and abroad.
The SOS also encourages orchidists to pollinate orchid species already in their collections and to share the seedlings with their fellow orchidists. For more information about this serious topic, and to learn how to get involved and to support conservation efforts consider visiting some of these orchid conservation websites:
http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/index.html
The Orchid Conservation Coalition is a coalition of orchid societies, businesses, and non profit conservation organizations. The keyword is coalition. The coalition revolves around a set of agreements which are opt in or opt out. For orchid societies and small businesses the agreements are good faith. All the decision making is left to the boards of participating orchid societies and the small business owners. For large businesses, the agreement is a legally binding agreement. For non profit conservation organizations the agreement is good faith with the understanding that the organization will be transparent with the funds received through 1% for Orchid Conservation and update participants with their progress.
Native Orchid Conservation Inc Orchid Conservation International is an independent, non-profit organization, established to provide a firm funding base for the work of the Orchid Specialist Group (OSG) of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of The World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Native Orchid Conservation Inc is a non-profit organization, founded in April of 1998, whose purpose is to protect unique mini-ecosystems and their plant communities. This primarily involves native orchids but can also extend to other rare and/or endangered plants. For more information on NOCI objectives: http://www.nativeorchid.org/aboutnoci.htm
contact: Doris Ames
Debwendon Inc
Debwendon Inc is a non-profit organization formed in 2007 to promote and preserve the Brokenhead Wetland Ecological Reserve, raise public awareness of the historic cultural connection between the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and the Brokenhead Wetland, construct and maintain over the long term a boardwalk and interpretive trail adjacent to the Brokenhead Wetland Ecological Reserve, and raise funds toward those ends.
contact: Carl Smith
Jardin Botanico Las Orquideas
The Orchid and Botanical Garden of the Ecuadorian Amazon is the fruit of an idea that began in Puyo in 1980. Here you can discover orchids in their natural setting, in a small restored forest in the upper Amazon basin. This reserve is a site of scientific inquiry, thanks to the work of its owner, Señor Omar Tello. The reserve, former pasture land that was restored by hand through amidst decades of deforestation, hosts a variety of Andean orchids, salvaged from fallen forests of the local region.
contact: Señor Omar Tello
Orchid Conservation Alliance is a non-profit orchid conservation organization that collects donations from a variety of sources, reviews grants, and distributes money to worthwhile orchid conservation projects. The funding and the granting will be transparent. There will be feedback: amount of money collected and granted, reports on conservation projects (progress and success), pictures, and people involved.
For 2008 the OCA has a goal of raising $50,000 for orchid conservation. Click here to read more details on the projects to be funded.
PDF to Join the OCA
contact: Peter Tobias
Denver Botanic Gardens
Denver Botanic Gardens' spectacular 23-acre urban oasis, offering an unforgettable artistic garden experience, as well as a living laboratory for education and acclaimed conservation and research programs. Additional sites at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, a 750-acre native plant refuge in Littleton; Mount Goliath, a high altitude trail and interpretive site filled with alpine wildflowers on the Mount Evans Scenic Byway; and Centennial Gardens, a five-acre formal garden in downtown Denver, extend our rich horticultural offerings throughout the Front Range.
contact: Denver Botanic Gardens
EcoMinga
In July 2005 a group of concerned Ecuadorian and international scientists and conservationists started a foundation to do something to save these plants and the other threatened organisms of Ecuador's forests. EcoMinga is efficiently preserve biodiversity by a mixture of innovative and traditional approaches to protect strategic centers of endemism in Ecuador. We also work with local communities and international tourists to raise awareness about the value of Ecuador's biodiversity.
contact: Lou Jost
Plant Restoration, Conservation and Propagation Biotechnology Program Researchers in the PLANT RESTORATION, CONSERVATION AND PROPAGATION BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM (University of Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department) combine multiple disciplines to develop species recovery plans for Florida’s native orchids. Studying several aspects of a plant’s biology and ecology results in a more complete picture of that species’ life strategy, and improves the likelihood of successful species conservation. Additional Summary Information
contact: Michael Kane
Tropical Research and Education Center At the Tropical Research and Education Center (TREC), University of Florida, Homestead, FL, USA, we have established a long term research program on orchid production and conservation. This is a broad program aiming to enhance and promote orchid propagation and conservation through a variety of approaches and techniques, including plant tissue culture, cryopreservation, cell growth and development, and gene expression studies. Additional Summary Information
contact: Wagner A. Vendrame
The OCI awards grants for orchid conservation on an annual basis. Link to: OCI 2006 Awards
contact: Philip Seaton or Phil Cribb
The GROWISER native plant preserve was originally founded in 1993 as a non-profit corporation to preserve a pristine 160 acre site in northeastern Oregon. Included among the 190 native plants on the preserve, are nine orchids. It is hoped that the GROWISER model will be used to establish many more orchid preserves. Additional Summary Information
contact: Andy Huber