Skip to content
Center for Plant Conservation
  • Login
  • Register
  • Get Newsletters
  • Donate
  • Discover Our Work
    • 2025 National Meeting
      • Sponsor the National Meeting
      • Past National Meetings
      • 2025 Photo Contest
    • CPC Rare Plant Academy
      • Video Library
      • Photo Gallery
      • Applied Plant Conservation Course
      • Community Forum
    • National Collection
    • CPC Best Practices
      • Read Best Practices Online
      • Download Best Practices PDF
      • Purchase Best Practices Book
    • Pollinator Database
    • California Plant Rescue
    • Florida Plant Rescue
    • Rare Plant Finder
    • Seed Longevity Study
    • Rare Plant Reintroduction
      • Reintroduction Registry
      • CPC Reintroduction Database
  • Rare Plant Academy
    • Video Library
    • Photo Gallery
    • Applied Plant Conservation Course
    • Community Forum
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • 40th Anniversary
      • 40th Anniversary Campaign
      • 40th Anniversary Summit Event
    • Sponsor a Plant
    • Advocacy
    • Become a Partner
    • Get Newsletters
    • Register
    • Member Payments
    • Sponsor the National Meeting
  • Meet Our Community
    • CPC Newsletter
    • Conservation Partners
      • Institutional Partners
      • Individual Partners
    • CPC Star Awards
    • Fellowships
    • Community Forum
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Sponsor a Rare Plant
    • Shop CPC Merch
  • About
    • Team and Mission
    • Reports & Financials
    • Board of Trustees
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Press Room
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Get Newsletters
  • Login
  • Register
Center for Plant Conservation

Reintroducing the CPC Reintroduction Registry

Dr. Katie Heineman, VP of Science & Conservation

Translocation of rare plants into the wild is one of the most logistically difficult and time-intensive actions that plant conservationists undertake. Sometimes referred to as rare plant “reintroduction,” it typically requires a full spectrum of conservation actions: collection of seed from the wild, propagation of plants in a garden setting, site preparation prior to planting, installation of propagules, and site maintenance and monitoring to ensure survival and establishment of plants. Yet despite the incredible amount of work required and knowledge gained with each project, translocation details or outcomes are often buried in reports that can be difficult for future practitioners to access. This lost knowledge puts our community at risk of repeating mistakes for rare species—species that have little time to waste.

Background photo: North Carolina Botanical Garden gathered many staff and volunteers to assist with endangered Ptilimnium nodosum reintroduction. Photo credit: Johnny Randall, NCBG.

The CPC Reintroduction Registry, newly re-launched on SavePlants.org ahead of our National Meeting in May 2022, makes it easier to find invaluable records and contacts for reintroduction projects. The registry—a concise list of rare plant reintroduction projects—is sortable by species, lead institution, or state, and it provides links to relevant peer-reviewed and non-reviewed “grey” literature. This is the first step in revitalizing an important older network resource: CPC’s International Reintroduction Registry (IRR), created in 2009 by Dr. Ed Guerrant, formerly of Rae Selling Berry Seed Bank and Botanic Garden, and Dr. Joyce Maschinski, President & CEO of CPC. The new registry also contains information from willing contributors to the REDCap Reintroduction Database for US Rare Plants, compiled by Matthew Albrecht and collaborators at Missouri Botanical Garden. Our goal is to make the full database records from these assets available online by the end of 2022, including detailed assessments of reintroduction design, treatments, and outcomes. To protect rare plant location information and project details, data access will be restricted to individual database contributors and CPC National Office Staff.

Image of CPC contracted postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Joe Bellis.
CPC contracted postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Joe Bellis.

The need for this registry was identified through strategic planning for the future of CPC’s reintroduction database, initiated in 2021. CPC contracted postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Joe Bellis, a recent graduate of Liverpool John Moores University, to evaluate the assets of the CPC IRR and the REDCap database and to chart a future for these assets within our network. This process identified the need for a new product that incorporates both databases and includes data fields designed for collaborative research. This will helps researchers to identify and extract data to improve the CPC Best Practice Guidelines on Reintroduction & Translocation.

Image of screenshot from the reintroduction database on SavePlants.org.
Screenshot from the reintroduction database on SavePlants.org.

Watch Joe’s presentation from the 2022 CPC National Meeting to learn more about the history of the registry and Joe’s plans for a meta-analysis evaluating effects of climate on rare plant translocation outcomes. If you would like to share records for the registry or meta-analysis, please contact Dr. Joe Bellis at jbellis@saveplants.org.

Discover Our Work

  • CPC Rare Plant Academy
  • National Collection
  • Best Practices Guide
  • Pollinator Database
  • California Plant Rescue
  • Florida Plant Rescue
  • Rare Plant Finder
  • CPC National Meeting

Get Involved

  • Donate
  • 40th Anniversary
  • Advocacy
  • Become a Partner
  • Get Newsletters
  • Register
  • Member Payment
  • Underwrite

Meet Our Community

  • CPC Newsletter
  • Institutional Partners
  • Individual Partners
  • CPC Star Awards
  • Fellowships

About

  • Team and Mission
  • Financials
  • Board of Trustees
  • Fellowships
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us

Social Media


The Center For Plant Conservation (CPC) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization (EIN# 22-2527116) dedicated to saving rare plant species from extinction. CPC's National Collection represents more than 2,000 of the world's rarest plants, maintained collectively by its valued network of Participating Institutions.

Center for Plant Conservation National Headquarters 15600 San Pasqual Valley Rd. Escondido, CA 92027-7000

Email: info@saveplants.org; Phone: (760) 796-5686

The CPC National Office is headquartered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondidio, California, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a CPC Participating Institution.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

CPC has achieved the 2019 Gold Seal of Transparency on GuideStar.

Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

Copyright 2020 Center for Plant Conservation | All Rights Reserved

FaceBook Twitter Instagram