The Canadian Botanical Conservation Network is a registered charitable organization, the objective of which is to aid botanical gardens, arboreta and other organizations maintaining collections of living plants to participate in biodiversity and conservation projects. CBCN is a project of the Science Department of Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario, Canada, has about 15 member institutions across Canada. Support for CBCN comes from several sources, including at present the Biodiversity Convention Office of Environment Canada and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. The principle projects of CBCN include the development of a biodiversity action plan for botanical gardens in Canada, the launch of a national program for ex situ conservation of endangered Canadian native plants, and participation in an international pilot project to harmonize the policies of botanical gardens around the world with the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, with regards to access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources. For more information, please contact the coordinator, David A. Galbraith

Web site includes: a) full-text of latest edition of quarterly newsletter.

b) Seedbank information: List of institutions with seedbanks and seedbank reference section

c) CBCN On-Line Forum, an interactive Web site provided by the Department of Biology of McMaster University, for exchanging ideas and discussions about the Canadian Natural Heritage Seed Bank program and other programs of the Canadian Botanical Conservation Network