Today’s Actions, Tomorrow’s Resilience - appeal to preserve our botanic world, before it stops protecting us

With your help, we can respond with the urgency this crisis demands. Our scientists and horticulturists are harnessing world-leading expertise to rescue Scotland’s threatened species, restore our habitats, and build resilience in our towns and cities.

Where you come in

You can help put back what is being lost.

A gift to our appeal today could help us to:

· Build greener, cooler cities - help us use plants to manage flooding, reduce heat, and create thriving urban habitats.

· Turn expertise into impact – support our teams to apply cutting-edge conservation science where it matters most.

· Plant for the future - contribute to restoring thousands of plants to the right habitats and help us track their success over time.

This is not theory, it’s science in action, we are already seeing the results through programmes such as our Scottish Plant Recovery Project and our Nature Based Solutions project and with your support, we can do much more.

Saving Scotland’s Plants. Restoring Nature’s Balance.

Your gift today could work to save Scottish plant species and bring nature-based solutions into our urban neighbourhoods, helping to protect communities from some of the effects of climate change.

Seagrass

Seagrass meadows play a significant global role in supporting food security, mitigating climate change and supporting biodiversity. They can store up to 35 times as much of the greenhouse gas as the same area of rainforest – and they can hold onto it for millennia! Human activity has reduced these once-abundant meadows to scattered beds in coastal waters, covering only 10 percent of their original extent around the UK. Our teams are working with partners to scale up vital restoration projects.

Rain Gardens

The rain garden area in Edinburgh used to be known for waterlogged lawns, flooded paths, and tree roots left soaking in water. However, our horticulturists have used their knowledge to pack it with plants that soak up water and flourish through unpredictable conditions, transforming it into a thriving space. By tracking how the area responds to rainfall, we’re showing how nature can tackle flooding here in Edinburgh and inspire climate resilience globally.

Woolly Willow

The woolly willow (Salix lanata) is a low-growing shrub found in mountain environments. It is a highly endangered species in the UK, growing in just 13 locations (all of which are in Scotland, such as in our Dawyck Botanic Garden). Conservation work aims to create a thriving community, of benefit to many other species, which will in turn increase the biodiversity of the surrounding habitat.

Stormwater planters

Stormwater planters turn heavy rainfall from a threat into a resource. By capturing water from drainpipes, the plants and soil filter and store it, slowly releasing the excess. The result? Fewer floods, healthier drains, and green spaces that help our cities adapt.

Alpine blue-sowthistle

Not long ago, the alpine blue-sowthistle (Cicerbita alpina) was on the brink of disappearing from Scotland, fewer than 100 plants remained across just four wild sites. Thanks to focused genetic research, conservation horticulture and the support that makes it all possible, it has become a flagship for threatened species recovery. Last year, our team, alongside project collaborators, walked through a meadow of blue-sowthistles, having grown and returned more than 1,200 individual plants to wild places in Scotland.

With your help, we can create lasting change through projects like these. Please donate today - head to rbge.org.uk/protectplants or call on 0131 248 2929.