Plant EXTINCTION PREVENTION PROGRAM
LYON ARBORETUM
Lyon Arboretum is a research unit of the University of Hawaiʻi. In addition to offering public programs and hiking trails, we provide many opportunities to the scientific community. As a botanical garden, our grounds offer more than pretty plants and scenic views. We are an outdoor museum with a living collection of plants. Over 6,000 taxa of tropical and sub-tropical plants can be found throughout our grounds, and more are stored “behind the scenes” in our seed lab and micropropagation lab. Our major emphases are tropical plants, native Hawaiian plants, conservation biology, and Hawaiian ethnobotany.
A collaboration between Lyon Arboretum and the US Botanic Garden through the Plants and Climate Change Education (PLACCE) peer learning group is working on a project for Hawaiʻi called E ola nā mea ulu o Hawaiʻi - Thrive the growing things of Hawaiʻi.
Lyon Arboretum’s research and education emphasis on conservation biology and its strong horticultural specialization has led to the development of the Hawaiian Rare Plant Program, which is comprised of 3 storage and propagation facilities; a Micropropagation Laboratory, Seed Conservation Laboratory, and Rare Plant Greenhouse.
PEPP
The Plant Extinction Prevention Program preserves Hawaii’s rarest plants through teamwork.The Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) at UH Mānoa’s Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit is dedicated to preserving these rarest species by controlling their threats, collecting their fruit and seeds, and discovering new individuals. Since its inception, PEPP’s tireless work has resulted in the successful collections of 117 PEP species and the placement of more than 51,000 seedlings, representing over 100 of Hawai‘i’s rarest species, back into the wild.