^{Approved by the Conservation Policy Committee - 4 June 2003}

The mission of the New England Wild Flower Society is “to promote the conservation of temperate North American flora through education, research, horticulture, habitat preservation, and advocacy.” As part of this mission statement, The Wild Flower Society promotes conservation through the use of plants native to temperate North America. This broad range of plants demonstrates The Wild Flower Society's interest in promoting conservation throughout North America, not just New England, and reflects The Society's position as a regional institution that also shares a national perspective.

The Society advocates the horticultural use of native plants for the following reasons:

• Native species have relationships (as food or nectar sources for pollinators, for example) to other organisms in their native range, and so are more likely to provide ecological functions and values than exotic species.
• In general, native plants are well adapted to the climate and soils of the region where they are native, and therefore may make good garden plants.
• Native plants are the foundation of the regional character of our landscapes.
• Gardening with native plants reinforces the link between gardens and the native landscape, and develops an appreciation and awareness of plants that may support plant conservation efforts.

Gardening, whether using plants native to New England or not, often leads the gardener to become interested in the plants that they see in the wild, either locally or regionally. Becoming interested in and more knowledgeable of plants in their local habitat often leads to a desire to conserve local plants and habitats from destruction. In effect, as long as New England Wild Flower Society is getting people interested in native plants, whether the native plants are native to New England or not, it is helping to achieve its mission of promoting conservation.

The Wild Flower Society should, however, give primary emphasis to New England plant species, and second emphasis to species native to other regions of North American. Many non-invasive exotic plants (from other continents) thrive quite well in our region and make well-behaved garden plants. Although these plants may be appropriate for use in horticulture in New England and may also be useful in education, their sale and display by The Society should remain extremely limited.

Because we are the New England Wild Flower Society, the public initially assumes that all plants used in displays or offered for sale are native to New England. Interpretation of the plants sold and displayed by The Wild Flower Society is an important part of its conservation message, and New England Wild Flower Society has a responsibility to clearly interpret its actions. Non-native species, either on display or sold by The Wild Flower Society, should be clearly identified as non-native, their presence in displays interpreted to the public, and their appropriateness under the mission statement periodically reviewed.

The main caveats involved with the distribution and uses of plants and seeds by New England Wild Flower Society are that we should not distribute any plant species anywhere they are considered invasive, and that the plants that The Wild Flower Society distributes should be for garden use only, unless specifically designated for use in habitat restoration. These two caveats are covered adequately under the conservation policies already approved by the board on 29 May 2002.