Xishuangbanna (Yunnan province) is a plant diversity hotspot, supporting more than 10% of China’s angiosperm flora in less than 0.2% of its land area. Agricultural expansion in recent decades had resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation, threatening the survival of many plant species. To ensure the long-term survival of threatened species, the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) initiated the “Zero Extinction Project” in 2012. The project aims to reduce the extinction rate of native flora in the prefecture to zero and is part of XTBG’s commitment to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) 2011-2020. Central to this project is the ex situ conservation of threatened species, many of which will be included in the living collection within XTBG.
