The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation’s report in 2020 states that oceanic islands harbor disproportionally large numbers of endemic species, many of which are under significant threat of extinction. Ex situ conservation is exceedingly important in maintaining the genetic diversity of wild populations when the number of wild mature individuals declines. The Hawaiʻi Seed Bank Partnership and Laukahi published a guide, and instructions for working with Hawaiian plants.

The number of ex situ facilities in existence across the Hawaiian Islands has doubled over the last few years. Some of the world’s rarest species reside in Hawaiʻi’s ex situ facilities. These collections of rare species include living collections, seeds, seedlings, and clone propagules, which provide the material for restoration efforts. Progress toward this Target measures the percentage of Species of Conservation Importance (SCI) in ex situ collections.

Laukahi has surveyed partners’ collections in 2012, 2020, and 2023. In 2023, Laukahi inventoried 32 partner ex situ facilities to attain an update of the ex situ assessment originally surveyed in 2012. Some highlights from the survey showed that 85% of the SCI (or 741 / 868 species) are secured in ex situ collections, which meets and exceeds the global target of 75%. An additional 220 SCI have been collected since 2012, and the ex situ collections contain 30 SCI that are extinct in the wild. In some cases, the ex situ material have been used for restorations. The ex situ collections contain 229 out of 260 Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) taxa, and 19% of SCI in ex situ collections represent more than half of the remaining individuals of the species in the wild. An area to guide efforts toward is the 70% of SCI in ex situ collections that are represented by less than 10% of remaining individuals of the species in the wild.