2015 Annual Report

Annual Report 2015 Messages from Thomas D. Hewitt and Chipper Wichman It is my great honor to serve as chairman of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Although we have some of the most beautiful gardens in the world, and are respected worldwide for the science we do and the plants we save from extinction, it is the people – our superb staff, our Board, our supporters – that differentiate us from other world-class gardens. We are a hands-on organization and we are all willing to roll up our sleeves to work. On behalf of the Board, I thank each and every one of you. — Tom Hewitt, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Aloha to all of our Board members and supporters. After celebrating the Garden’s 50th anniversary in 2014, last year – 2015 – was an important one for the Garden. Not only did we continue with our half-century-long tradition of advancing plant science, conservation, and education, we welcomed new Board members, volunteers, and highly-skilled staff to help fulfill our mission. The year 2015 saw noteworthy contributions to new plant discoveries and data published, and significant growth in our seed bank, herbarium, and living collections. From our five gardens and five preserves to the increasingly high-profile Breadfruit Institute, our inter-agency collaborations in science and conservation, and over a dozen exciting education and public outreach programs, NTBG continues to have an impact throughout Hawai‘i, the Pacific, and around the world. Thanks to your support, the work we do helps promote a greater understanding and appreciation of our natural world while protecting the plant life that sustains all of us and the countless other creatures with whom we share this beautiful, fragile planet. Thank you for your help and for playing a vital role in our continued and future success. — Chipper Wichman, President, Director and Chief Executive Officer 1 Introduction As Garden supporters, board members, staff, and volunteers, we all play a vital role in advancing the work of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG). Each of us contributes to helping our organization fulfill its mission to advance plant discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education. Most of us are not the field botanists rappelling down high cliff faces, exploring remote valleys, or botanizing in tropical forests in search of undiscovered plants yet we share their passion. We also hold a common belief in NTBG’s mission and a commitment to protecting the environment. And each of us has the potential to help save plants, better understand our natural world, and make this planet a better place for our children and grandchildren. As NTBG supporters, our impact can be measured in many ways — the number of plants collected and seeds saved, the acreage of wild habitat protected, and so on. But our impact extends far beyond these tangible signs and includes things like fostering a greater appreciation for the role of science in our daily lives, the value of promoting wildlife conservation, and advocating for a more biodiverse world. We believe NTBG plays a meaningful, even critical role in contributing to the health of the planet. Today we live in an age of great consequence when, even as many forms of life face unprecedented perils, we are also equipped with the tools, the experience, and the resolve to meet the most daunting of challenges — and to succeed. Climate change, environmental degradation, habitat destruction, and other ecological crises all threaten plant life and lead to the loss of irreplaceable biodiversity. The proverbial clock is ticking, we cannot afford to fail, and so our work continues. Your support is essential to our success, and vital to our survival. Together, we are having a positive impact. 2 3 Science and Conservation In 2015, the Science and Conservation Department played an active role collaborating with the newly informed International Center for Tropical Botany and other partners in Hawai‘i and across the Pacific. The department made advances in taxonomic and floristics research, seed banking, rugged terrain field work, with NTBG collections and exhibitions, workshops, publications, and public outreach. 4 5 NTBG Science and Conservation staff contributed to discoveries and data published in 26 research papers and peer-reviewed journals and books. In April, NTBG hired conservation biologist Program and other state agencies. Research Seana Walsh, in part to focus on implementing Biologist Ken Wood focused on rugged terrain the Hawai‘i Strategy for Plant Conservation, areas and has rediscovered and mapped which includes making targeted collections of populations of several rare and presumed Hawaiian species of conservation importance extinct species, as well as discovering several for propagation and seed storage. Strategy new species. efforts involve collecting voucher-documented propagation materials for addition to our Using field-tested new technology, our staff living collections and long-term storage in our now uses smartphones to upload data directly seed bank. to our database for a more efficient, streamlined process. At the same time, we’ve increased the NTBG’s Seed Bank operations were relocated to size of our bryophyte (mosses and liverworts) the Botanical Research Center in 2015, helping and lichen collection by over 1,100 specimens. further integrate the seed bank with our research efforts. New equipment, like a top-of-the-line Through our efforts in science and conservation, germination chamber and minus 40°F freezer, we continue to have a positive impact in a along with the hiring of new seed bank manager multitude of other ways. One of the most Dustin Wolkis builds our own capacity, allowing important of these was spearheading a training for greater collaboration and the advancement workshop for some two dozen conservation of NTBG’s efforts to save Hawai‘i’s irreplaceable experts on the assessment process required flora. In 2015, our Seed Bank accessioned to add the entire Hawaiian flora to the IUCN 172 seed collections comprised of more than Red List of Threatened Species. We’ve also 300,000 seeds that have been added to storage. been increasing and improving our herbarium collection, making notable headway in digitizing NTBG’s fieldwork yielded important results last plant and habitat images, implementing new year through ongoing studies, discoveries, and GIS techniques, and contributing to efforts to collaborations with conservation partners like complete the Flora of the Marquesas, the Flora of the State of Hawai‘i Plant Extinction Prevention the Cook Islands, and the Flora of Samoa. 6 7 Living Collections and Horticulture Finding, growing, collecting, and protecting plants is central to NTBG’s mission. The work of our Living Collections & Horticulture Department revolves around our Conservation and Horticulture Center on Kaua‘i’s South Shore. This is where our plant collectors, nursery staff, scientists, researchers, and even Garden visitors converge. By its very nature, this multi-faceted department is always growing and poised to have a great impact across the organization in Hawai‘i, Florida, and beyond. 8 9 10,500 mapping efforts increased 36,900 live plants inventoried records created 46% As a botanical garden, keeping track of our In August 2015, the Garden welcomed the collections and updating our records is essential return of more than one thousand Asplenium to our work. In 2015, more than 10,500 records ferns endemic to Kaua‘i after being propagated were created and/or edited for NTBG’s Living by NTBG research associate Ruth Aguraiuja in Collections Database. We conducted inventories her lab at the Tallinn Botanic Garden. Working for the following: Native Hawaiian plants, the under a memorandum of understanding, these McBryde Garden palmetum (various palm rare ferns were hand-delivered from Estonia to species), and collections of economic, aesthetic, the Horticulture Center where they were cared ethnobotanical, horticultural, scientific, and for until they were ready to be transferred to a conservation value. higher elevation and finally outplanted in their native habitat in the spring of 2016. Our mapping efforts increased in 2015 by 46 As of 2015, NTBG’s percent, meaning we plotted nearly 2,000 As part of NTBG’s 2015 efforts, we added more more plants than the previous year. We finished than 3,400 plants to our Hawai‘i gardens and herbarium held over mapping McBryde Garden along with almost restoration sites, half of which were federally half of Allerton Garden. Additionally, we were listed endangered species. We also grew and able to expand our strategic collection of Native delivered over 10,000 plants to a restoration 74,000 vouchers, Hawaiian plants in order to better understand site on Kaua‘i’s North Shore for use in helping re- native ecosystems. These collections have establish a nesting colony for Hawaiian Petrels. adding 797 collected focused on rare plants from remote mountain peaks such as Mt. Haupu on the island of Kaua‘i. NTBG’s most recent nursery inventory lists specimens in the first nearly 36,900 live plants. half of the year alone. 10 11 Breadfruit Institute The Breadfruit Institute (BFI) has become the international resource center for information regarding breadfruit. As public awareness increases about the benefits of growing, eating, and conserving Among our many activities and achievements in 2015 are the following: More than 15,000 breadfruit, requests for guidance and data pour in from around the world. BFI has a well- breadfruit trees have been sent to six countries, bringing the total breadfruit tree distribution managed, world-class conservation collection of more than 120 breadfruit cultivars, an active since the launch of the Global Hunger Initiative in 2009 to 69,247 in 37 countries. Five and dynamic research program, productive outreach and education efforts. Through a myriad countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Cameroon, and Sri Lanka) received of partnerships, we also are planting thousands of trees throughout the tropics.

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