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Explore this year's SePPCon Goal: Improving Conservation Outcomes for Southeastern Plants

Plants are the foundation
for most life on earth.

We are a public & private partnership of professionals bridging gaps between local and national plant conservation efforts and collaborating to prevent and restore the loss of plant diversity in the southeastern United States.
Find Plant Conservation Resources

What is the Southeastern Plant Conservation Alliance (SE PCA)?

The Southeastern Plant Conservation Alliance (SE PCA) is a cross-cutting partnership of public and private conservation professionals working in the Southeastern United States. The SE PCA seeks to bridge gaps between local and national efforts by fostering regional cooperation and promoting a diversity of partners. The Alliance is tailored to multiple interests to provide training opportunities, fill information gaps, identify conservation needs, prioritize efforts, and work collaboratively to conserve imperiled plants. This is achieved by adapting successful models, novel partnerships, and creative solutions to challenges while leveraging shared resources.

The SE PCA was informally launched during the 2nd Southeastern Partners in Plant Conservation event in March 2020 and formalized through virtual meetings and planning throughout that year. Conference breakout sessions created a forum to share and build skills for collaboration, communication, fundraising, and volunteers. Small-group skills assessment workshops formed the basis for larger group sessions led by a professional facilitator that sought to identify regional needs and how they can be met by a formal partnership. We were prompted to consider our biggest challenges and what success could look like for such a collaborative network, including solutions to our shared challenges.

The Southeastern region includes the following US states and territories

 

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Kentucky

Louisiana

Mississippi

Missouri

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Puerto Rico

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

US Virgin Islands

West Virginia

Conservation Activities

Our Coordinated Conservation Activities

  • Develop a List of Species of Greatest Conservation Need for Southeastern plants.
  • Use the List to identify and conduct conservation status assessments for priority species.
  • Secure 60–75% of Southeastern rare plants in seed banks and cultivated (ex situ) living collections.1
  • Implement recovery and restoration projects that return 10–15% of ex situ collections into the wild (in situ) within 4 – 6 years.
  • Promote the utilization of the Center for Plant Conservation’s Best Practices.
  • Support the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration.
  • Increase public awareness of the critical and essential roles of plants in recovering biodiversity.
  • Focus conservation funding on efficient and cost-effective recovery efforts.

Ecosystem Stability

Climate Resilience

Why we care about regional plant species!

Plant Extinction

The United States supports a larger variety of ecosystems than any other nation.

Extinction threatens 40% of the world’s plant species.

Rare Species

Of the 65 plants that have vanished in North America since European settlement, nearly 40% (25) are from the Southeast. Of an additional 7 plants extinct in the wild (only known from ex situ collections), 4 are from the Southeast.

Risk Assessment

Nearly one third of plant species in the U.S. are at risk of extinction, but only 11% are protected by the Endangered Species Act.

Plant Biodiversity

The southeastern U.S is a hotspot of biodiversity and includes many unique habitats and plants that are particularly vulnerable to continued anthropogenic influences.

Funding Solutions

The majority of federally threatened and endangered species are plants - yet they receive less than 5% of federal & state recovery funding.

Enacting Change

Unless we enact change, an estimated 1,000,000 plant and animal species - because of habitat destruction, invasive species, pollinator loss, climate change, and other threats - face extinction.

News & Updates

Bi-Monthly Meetings Virtual, bi-monthly meetings began in July and feature guest speakers followed by planning team discussions. We are currently reviewing organizational models of other collective initiatives so that we can draw upon their experiences in deciding how to best structure our regional alliance. A leadership meeting will take place in late October – Email cradcliffe@atlantabg.org to get involved.
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Restored pitcher plant bog in the Florida Panhandle

Credit Jeff Talbert, Atlanta Botanical Garden.

37. Restored wet prairie at Deer Lake SP