ABSTRACT
Two key strategies are employed to conserve plant species: in situ and ex situ conservation. As defined in Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in situ conservation preserves ecosystems and natural habitats and maintains and recovers viable populations of species in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties. In contrast, ex situ conservation of species preserves biological diversity outside of their natural habitats (UNCED, 1992). Put simply, in situ conservation maintains species in their natural habitats, while ex situ conservation removes species from their natural habitats. It must be emphasised that once a plant is removed from the natural habitat, it no longer experiences selective pressure from the natural environment (pest, disease, climatic), and thus the evolution of its potentially important genes ceases (Hoyt, 1988). In situ conservation therefore maintains the evolution of potentially important plant genes.
