The federal government has terminated funding for two IMLS grants at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
The first, awarded in 2023, was a $704,148 grant with $372,097 remaining. This grant was to fund research aimed at addressing gaps in guidelines to better manage ex situ species conservation in living collections at botanical gardens. Ex situ conservation is conserving threatened species in a controlled environment, like a botanical garden, rather than in their natural habitat. It is increasingly important as more plant species face the threat of extinction. The resulting research tools were to be shared with other institutions to help more efficiently and effectively manage or use ex situ plant collections for conservation.
The second, awarded in 2024, totaled $247,499 with $194,359 of that grant remaining. This grant was to provide funding to develop a new tool for the living collection management system to prioritize plants based on criteria like global rarity and climate suitability.
These projects connect with the Garden’s mission to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.
The Garden is still evaluating the impact the loss of the IMLS funding will have on our programs.