University of Washington, Seattle
OP-11: Biodiversity

The University of Washington, through the UW Botanic Gardens, manages the 230-acre Washington Park Arboretum adjacent to campus and owns the plant collections. There are nearly 4,000 accessioned taxa representing over 20,000 plants. This includes a conservation collection of 212 taxa representing 64 genera of plants that are listed as vulnerable, threatened or higher for worldwide extinction. The Arboretum contains one of the most diverse woody plant collections in North America. The UW Botanic Gardens, which manages both the Arboretum and the on-campus Center for Urban Horticulture and Union Bay Natural Areas also contains habitat for over 200 bird species. The 74-acre Union Bay Natural Area is considered the best urban birdwatching area in the state of Washington and is managed to support a diversity of bird and animal life. The UW Botanic Gardens also maintains the Miller Seed Vault, which stores seeds of 107 rare Washington species and has received 69420 accessions (seed lots).

The UW Botanic Gardens is a member institution of both Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BCGI) and the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC). We monitor and track our collections of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed plants. We collaborate with international communities in ex situ conservation efforts through seed banking and tissue culture, and duplicate collections for non-regional taxa; coordinating primarily with institutions from similar climate regimes focusing on acquisition of threatened plant species, in accordance with CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) guidelines. We work with city, county and state agencies to manage over 70 acres of environmentally sensitive areas including wetland and shoreline habitats.

The UW Botanic Gardens manages over 300 acres containing a variety of habitats. In the Botanic Gardens, 5.4% of the documented collection consists of plants that are vulnerable, threatened, endangered or extinct in the wild. We manage over 4 miles of shoreline adjacent to more than 70 acres of environmentally sensitive areas, which support over 200 species of resident and migratory birds. This includes the largest extant swamp in the Lake Washington watershed.

We have a Collections Plan, Conservation Plan, and a Union Bay Natural Area and Shoreline Management Plan that guide our management, as well as an Integrated Pest Management plan. These were developed in conjunction with other agencies and organizations that manage similar gardens, habitats and sensitive areas.