Plantlife International
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| Motto | Speaking up for the nation's wild plants |
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| Formation | 1989 |
| Legal status | Non-profit company |
| Purpose | The conservation of wild flowers, fungi and other plants primarily in the UK, but also abroad |
| Location |
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Region served
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UK |
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Membership
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39 employees (2010) 10,500 members (2008) |
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Chief Executive
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Marian Spain |
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Main organ
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Board of Trustees (HRH The Prince of Wales, Patron Peter Ainsworth, Chairman) |
| Website | Plantlife |
Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. As of 2007, it owned 23 nature reserves around the United Kingdom, and has 10,500 members.
It was founded in 1989 with its first President who was a Professor namely David Bellamy. By 1999 it had 22 nature reserves.
Its patron is HRH the Prince of Wales, its president is Philip Mould OBE and its chairman is Peter Ainsworth. English gardener and television presenter Rachel De Thame is their vice-president. The chief executive is Marian Spain, who took over from Victoria Chester in 2014.
Plantlife's principal activities in Britain include the management of 4,500 acres (18 km2) of rare and important plant habitats as nature reserves, lobbying and campaigning in support of wild plant conservation, and organising surveys aimed at generating public interest in wild plants. Plantlife helps run an annual National Plant Monitoring Survey, and a rare species conservation programme, "Back from the Brink". It is a lead partner of HRH the Prince of Wales' Coronation Meadows project.
Although much of Plantlife's work is centred on plants, it is also involved in the conservation of fungi. Its work in this area includes surveying waxcap grasslands and publishing a strategy for conserving fungi in the UK.
The group also has an international programme which includes projects on medicinal plant conservation and sustainable use in the Himalayas and East Africa.
Plantlife own the following nature reserves:
In 2002 Plantlife ran a competition to select county flowers for all counties of the UK. The general public was invited to vote for the bloom they felt most represented their county. The list was declared in 2004.
Although sometimes contested, all have, to date, stuck. The one exception was the county flower of Norfolk: originally Alexanders won the vote. However, a campaign led by the Eastern Daily Press was successful in requesting a change to the poppy, which was felt to be more representative.
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Wikipedia