Botanic Gardens Conservation International

What Botanic Gardens Conservation International does

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), founded in 1987 and headquartered in the United Kingdom (Richmond/London), is a non-profit membership organization operating as the largest plant conservation network in the world. It coordinates botanical gardens, arboreta, and conservation institutions across six major regions (Africa, Asia, Caucasus/North/Central Asia, Europe, Latin America/Caribbean, and North America), serving member institutions, conservation NGOs, government agencies, and education/public engagement professionals. The organization leads flagship initiatives including the Global Tree Assessment, Global Conservation Consortia for threatened plant groups (Acer, Rhododendron, Oak, Magnolia, Conifers, and the newly launched Food Plants consortium), and the Global Seed Conservation Challenge.

BGCI's core technology consists of a portfolio of proprietary conservation databases — PlantSearch, GardenSearch, ThreatSearch, GlobalTreeSearch, GlobalTree Portal, and a Directory of Expertise — which aggregate plant species, institutional, and conservation assessment data globally. These are complemented by operational tools (Climate Assessment Tool, Index Seminum, an Online Training Platform), accreditation schemes, congresses (Global Botanic Garden Congress, International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens), and publications (BGJournal, Roots, the State of the World's Trees report). BGCI also hosts technical networks including the Ecological Restoration Alliance, International Plant Sentinel Network, and Exceptional Plant Conservation Network.

Revenue is generated through a diversified model: recurring membership fees from institutional members, grants and donations (including the Global Botanic Garden Fund disbursing 30-40 grants per year of USD 750-10,000 each), corporate sponsorship, and congress/event registration fees. Funding sources include the Franklinia Foundation (~20-year supporter), Morton Arboretum, U.S. Botanic Garden, USDA Forest Service, Korea National Arboretum, and more recently the Bezos Earth Fund. BGCI's network of member gardens collectively attracts hundreds of millions of visitors annually, amplifying its reach well beyond its direct operational footprint.

Name

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Legal name

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Website

https://bgci.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a UK-based non-profit founded in 1987 that operates the world's largest plant conservation network, coordinating botanical gardens, arboreta, and conservation institutions across six regions through shared databases, training, grants, and technical networks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Zoos and Botanical Gardens (71213), Zoos and Botanical Gardens (712130), Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Support Activities for Forestry (115310)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Timber Forest Products Management (Resins, Gums, Mushrooms, Berries) (AFAMAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Smallholder/Community Forest Group Certification (SLIMF) Support (AFAMALAG), Sustainable Forest Certification & Chain-of-Custody Services (FSC/PEFC/SFI) (IMAMAJAJ)

Keywords

• Plant conservation
• Botanic garden network
• Conservation databases
• Ex situ conservation
• Environmental education

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: BGCI operates as a membership organization with botanical gardens, arboreta, and conservation institutions paying membership fees to join the global network and access resources, training, and grants.
2. Grants and Donations: BGCI receives funding through its Global Botanic Garden Fund which disburses 30-40 grants per year to member institutions. The fund is supported by donors including The Botanist, Morton Arboretum, US Botanic Garden, Korea National Arboretum, and others.
3. Corporate Sponsorship: BGCI offers corporate sponsorship opportunities for companies seeking to support plant conservation efforts.
4. Congress and Event Fees: BGCI organizes major congresses including the Global Botanic Garden Congress and International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens, generating revenue through registration fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

BGCI is a UK-based non-profit membership organization that operates the world's largest plant conservation network, linking botanical gardens, arboreta, and conservation institutions across six major regions. It provides conservation databases (PlantSearch, GardenSearch, ThreatSearch, GlobalTreeSearch), grant funding (Global Botanic Garden Fund), training and accreditation programs, professional congresses, and coordinated technical networks that enable member institutions to prioritize and execute plant conservation action.

Product overview

BGCI is the world's largest plant conservation network operating as a unified platform of interconnected products and services. The core offering consists of databases (PlantSearch, GardenSearch, ThreatSearch, GlobalTreeSearch, GlobalTree Portal, Directory of Expertise) for plant conservation data, combined with grant programs (Global Botanic Garden Fund with multiple grant types), training and capacity building (Online Training Platform, Webinars, Technical Talks), professional congresses (Global Botanic Garden Congress, ICEBG), technical networks (Ecological Restoration Alliance, Global Conservation Consortia, International Plant Sentinel Network), and publications (BGJournal, Roots, State of the World's Trees). The organization also provides accreditation schemes, the Marsh Awards for recognition, and communication platforms like The Understory podcast. BGCI coordinates conservation initiatives including the Global Tree Assessment and Global Seed Conservation Challenge, and recently launched the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Understory: BGCI's communication project bringing plant conservation work to a wider audience through podcasts and blogs
• Global Tree Assessment
• Global Botanic Garden Fund
• Marsh Awards
• GLOBE

Products and services

• PlantSearch

Quantifiable outcome

• 38% of world's tree species at risk of extinction - BGCI works to prevent these extinctions through conservation action
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature10 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New York Botanical GardencoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 September 2025The New York Botanical Garden coordinates the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants, developed in partnership with BGCI. The consortium aims to protect edible biodiversity through coordinated research and conservation of food plant diversity in natural and managed habitats.
• FAO's International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and AgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFAO's International Treaty co-founded the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants, aligning with the Treaty's objectives to safeguard food plant genetic resources for future generations.
• Crop TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Crop Trust co-founded the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants, contributing to efforts to protect edible biodiversity and safeguard genetic material for agricultural innovation.
• United States Botanic GardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe United States Botanic Garden co-founded the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants, supporting efforts to expand conservation beyond traditional repositories.
• Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical GardenscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBGCI collaborates with Dr. Valerie Pence at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens to link knowledge, resources and projects globally to conserve threatened exceptional species through the Exceptional Plant Conservation Network (EPCN).
• NatureServeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBGCI-US and The Morton Arboretum work with NatureServe and the United States Forest Service to conduct conservation gap analyses of oaks and other exceptional species.
• United States Forest ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with BGCI-US and The Morton Arboretum on conservation gap analyses of oaks and exceptional species conservation.
• Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGGI-Gardens is an international partnership of botanical gardens and arboreta focused on collecting herbarium vouchers and preserving genome resources in GGBN biorepositories. Partners with BGCI on awards program.
• Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGGBN is a network of biorepositories preserving genomic tissues. GGI-Gardens Awards Program requires storage at GGBN-partnered biorepositories.
• Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSER published the 3rd edition of International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration. BGCI welcomed this publication supporting restoration practices globally.
• Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens (ERA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERA was established with the objective of sharing skills, resources, and plant materials of botanical gardens to scale up restoration activities around the world.
• International Plant Sentinel Network (IPSN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBGCI manages IPSN where botanical gardens act as an early warning system for new and emerging pest and pathogen risks affecting plants worldwide.
• IUCN Species Survival Commission Global Tree Specialist Group (GTSG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBGCI hosts GTSG, a group of taxonomic and regional tree experts that assist with tree conservation efforts and the Global Tree Assessment initiative.
• Global Conservation Consortia (GCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCC catalyzes groups of institutions and experts to collaboratively develop and implement comprehensive strategies to prevent extinction of priority threatened plant groups. Includes consortia for Acer, Rhododendron, Oak, Magnolia, and Conifers.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fauna & Flora International: FFI is one of the world's longest-established conservation NGOs with global programs spanning species, habitat, and ecosystem conservation. While its species mandate is broader than BGCI's plant focus, it competes for similar donor funding and operates comparable global conservation partnerships.
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature): IUCN is the world's largest and most established nature conservation network, producing the IUCN Red List that underpins BGCI's ThreatSearch database. BGCI hosts IUCN's Global Tree Specialist Group, making IUCN a critical upstream data partner and the dominant incumbent in the broader conservation space.
• Conservation International: Conservation International is a large, well-funded global conservation organization working on biodiversity, climate, and policy. It competes for the same philanthropic and government funding pools that BGCI depends on, and operates in overlapping geographies and policy forums.
• The Nature Conservancy: TNC is the world's largest environmental non-profit by revenue, with extensive land conservation, climate, and biodiversity programs globally. It competes with BGCI for philanthropic and corporate conservation funding and operates adjacent conservation-science and policy infrastructure.

Others

• Botanic Gardens Conservation International (US) / BGCI-US: BGCI-US is the U.S. affiliate of BGCI and works in close coordination with The Morton Arboretum and U.S. Forest Service on North American plant conservation priorities. While part of the same organization, it is a relevant sub-entity peer that operates U.S.-specific programs alongside BGCI's global mandate.

Direct peers

• The Morton Arboretum: The Morton Arboretum is a leading tree-focused botanical institution and a core financial and strategic partner of BGCI through the Global Botanic Garden Fund and BGCI/ArbNet Partnership Programme. It directly overlaps with BGCI on tree conservation, ArborNet accreditation, and capacity building for member gardens.
• Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden: Fairchild is a major tropical botanical garden with active plant conservation, research, and education programs and a strong international profile. It is a comparable institutional peer within BGCI's network and overlaps on tropical plant conservation and ex situ collections.
• New York Botanical Garden: NYBG is a leading botanical garden with major plant conservation, research, and education programs, and coordinates the Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants alongside BGCI. It directly partners with BGCI on flagship conservation initiatives and shares the same institutional constituency.
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is one of the world's leading plant science and conservation institutions, operating extensive living and seed bank collections and publishing global plant data. It directly overlaps with BGCI on plant conservation, botanical research, and global biodiversity data infrastructure.
• Missouri Botanical Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden is a major U.S. botanical institution with significant plant conservation, research, and education programs including the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development. It serves a comparable member-garden audience and overlaps with BGCI on conservation training and ex situ plant preservation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bgci
• Facebookfacebook.com/yourBGCI

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Botanic Gardens Conservation International