ABSTRACT
Botanic gardens have a major role in achieving the targets laid down in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) calls for at least 75% of threatened plant species in ex situ conservation, preferably in its country of origin. Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI), established soon after the Stockholm Convention (1972), which gave seminal status to the environment, has the major mandate of becoming a conservatory of tropical plant resources. The JNTBGRI garden, in its 40 years of production, has become one of the best tropical germplasm collections in the world with nearly 4,000 species/infraspecific taxa of conservation, education, and aesthetic interests. It has turned into a resource for multidisciplinary research on sustainable utilization of tropical plant wealth undertaken by different research divisions of the Institute and also for universities and centers outside the country. The ex situ conservatory gardens, recognized as “Lead Botanic Garden” by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, have also turned into reliable resources for the further spreading of endemic species, particularly threatened species, to more areas through other small botanic gardens and programs of restoration of sacred groves and the degraded natural habitats in the forests.
