NAOCC at a Glance

A growing alliance of over 60 botanic gardens, public and private landowners, researchers, educators, and citizens
Founding partners include the National Zoological Park, the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Gardens, and the U.S. Botanic Garden
Collaborators share the common goals of preserving habitats, creating and maintaining national collections of seeds and orchid mycorrhizal fungi, and conducting research on orchid ecology, conservation and restoration.
Education and outreach are key aspects of NAOCC’s aim to provide the public with opportunities to join in the effort to conserve native orchids.
NAOCC’s model and protocols have been adopted by European groups establishing the European Orchid Conservation Center and the Interactive Conservation platform for Orchids Native to Greece/Turkey (with funding through the European Union).
In a joint initiative with the U.S. Forest Service’s Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, NAOCC also established an orchid conservation program for the western Pacific island nation of Palau.

Together with our collaborators, NAOCC is:

Preserving the genetic diversity of local orchid populations with native orchid seed collections in regional and national seed banks
Building a collection of the fungi that play a critical role in the life cycle of orchids, especially for germination and growth

Discovering how to cultivate new orchids in harmony with the right fungi and reintroduce them back into nature.
Assuring the long-term survival of orchid populations by developing propagation protocols from research on the biology of orchids and the roles of fungi and pollinators

Creating online resources, such as the NAOCC and Go Orchids websites that engage and educate citizen scientists across a variety of platforms
Working with local schools to bring orchid science into the classroom.
Blending art and science to inspire and inform all ages about orchid conservation through orchid- gami