The role of the National Botanical Garden of Iran in ex situ conservation of Buxus hyrcana Pojark.; an endangered species

Abstract With the increased risk of extinction of woody species, there is a great need for botanical gardens for the ex situ conservation of threatened woody species in devoted conservation collections. The box tree (Buxus hyrcana Pojark.) is an endemic and endangered species of Hyrcanian forests, northern Iran. In recent years, many individuals of this species have been dried in a considerable range of Hyrcanian forests due to box blight disease and box-tree moth. Since the construction of the National Botanical Garden of Iran (NBGI) in 1967, B. hyrcana seedlings have been gathered from Hyrcanian forests and planted in the Hyrcanian habitat of the garden, so that the healthy individuals of B. hyrcana in the garden today have a good natural reproduction. In this study, we studied the successful experience of the NBGI as the only reliable source of healthy B. hyrcana seedlings to restore the destroyed habitats of B. hyrcana in Hyrcanian forests. This study emphasizes on two main issues: the foresight of garden staff in ex situ conservation of endangered species and the important role of NBGI in this conservation.