Magnolia domingensis (Magnolia domingensis)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 172516076

Integrated conservation action for the Dominican Republic's threatened Magnolias - M. domingensis, M. hamorii and M. pallescens

The project comprises three overall objectives: - Review of the current in and ex situ conservation status of the target species; - Raising awareness of the value of the target species in the local community; - Plant material collection for developing new and enhancing existing magnolia ex situ holdings, and for ultimate use in population reinforcement trials in selected areas of the species natural distribution.

The implementation of the conservation activities under this project, in particular the propagation trials and production of the conservation action plan, has generated a major momentum with the national stakeholders in the Dominican Republic that will pave the way to consolidate and scale up conservation efforts for Magnolia domingensis (CR), M. hamorii (EN) and M. pallescens (EN). While the species remain threatened, the 1) gathering of  information on the distributional range and extent of the populations of the three species; and the 2) collaboration with Fundación Progressio, the National Botanic Garden Dr. Rafael M. Moscoso and the Ministry of Environment to collect plant material and propagate the species, have made a major contribution to securing a more promising future for the three magnolias. Further funding is likely to be secured by the end of 2018 to continue these efforts, in particular the implementation of population reinforcement plantings in the wild. The conservation action plan will be published here by the end of 2018.