The Role of Home Gardens in Conserving Threatened Plants of the Philippines

The number of threatened plants in the Philippines continues to rise due to emerging threats such as rapid growth of population, increased rate of land conversion, the introduction of invasive alien species, climate change and, illegal trade of wildlife. Sustainable conservation programs for Philippine plants that will promote the participation of ordinary citizens through the establishment of home gardens and collaboration among researchers and horticulturists are needed more than ever. This paper presents the potential role of home gardens in safeguarding species of conservation concern. Three home gardens on Luzon were surveyed, wherein 75 morpho-species were recorded. Ten were found to be endemic to the Philippines, while 18 were native. Of the 75 morpho-species, 19 were listed as threatened in either IUCN Red List (IUCN 2018-1) or the Philippine Red List (DAO 2017-11). This likely indicates the importance of home gardens in conserving species, especially the threatened ones, through ex-situ.

Keywords: community science, conservation, ex-situ, home gardens, threatened plants