Florida Statewide Endangered and Threatened Plant Conservation Program

The Florida Endangered and Threatened Plant Conservation Program originated in 1992 to work toward the recovery of federally listed endangered and threatened plant species in Florida. This program is open to any individual or non-federal institution planning to conduct a project to conserve federal- and state-regulated rare plants. These projects are funded on an annual basis only, and multi-year projects have no guarantee of successive funding. No projects may occur on federal lands.

The program is funded through grants from the U. S. Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under Section 6 of the U. S. Endangered Species Act. The program issues small to medium-size grants commonly ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 per year. These grants are given as 75:25 matching funds. Each project is responsible for acquiring the project's match (25%) for the federal funds (75%).

The goal of the Florida Plant Conservation Program is to restore and maintain existing populations of listed plants on public land and on private lands managed for conservation purposes. Previous or ongoing projects address demography, monitoring, reintroduction, germination, pollination, and other aspects of population ecology.

The proposal format is included for anyone interested in submitting a proposal. Proposals must be submitted to Michael Jenkins. Proposals are ranked by a volunteer team comprised of federal, state and individual botanists/biologists and submitted to USFWS for potential funding. Priority in the ranking process will be given to proposals with greater than 25% of the minimum matching requirement and that address the USFWS’s needed Recovery Tasks found in federal Recovery Plans and Five-Year Reviews for the species. Projects conducted as a joint effort between two states for the recovery of one species are encouraged, though funding is only available for work that occurs in Florida.

Current and Completed Projects

• 2018-2019 Plant Conservation Program Projects [ 55.3 kB ]
• 2017-2018 Plant Conservation Program Projects [ 20.2 kB ]
• 2016-2017 Plant Conservation Program Projects [ 203.2 kB ]
• 2015-2016 Plant Conservation Program Projects [ 21.9 kB ]
• 2014-2015 Plant Conservation Program Projects [ 22.4 kB ]

Other Links

• Permitting Procedures for Harvesting Plants on the Regulated Plant Index
• Notes on Florida's Endangered and Threatened Species [ 10.7 MB ]
• FL Administrative Code 5B-40 : PRESERVATION OF NATIVE FLORA OF FLORIDA
• FL Administrative Code 5B-40.0055: Regulated Plant Index[ ]
• Preserving Florida's Native Flora