This Plan is intended to outline plans for preparing for emergencies and for immediate response and short-term recovery efforts in an emergency.

For more than two centuries, biodiversity collections have served as the foundation for scientific investigation of and education about life on Earth. The collections that have been assembled in

North America’s agricultural and natural landscapes are vital to feeding humanity—they are home to many populations of important food plants and their wild relatives.

The recent publication of a World Scientistsʼ Warning to Humanity highlighted the fact that climate change, absent strenuous mitigation or adaptation efforts, will have profound negative effects for humanity and other species, affecting numerous aspects

Pollination is fundamentally important to ecosystem function and human food security.
Recent reports of dramatic insect declines, and pollinator decline in particular,

Agriculture is comprised of managed ecosystems, which can include forests, rangelands
and crops; these managed ecosystems are vital resources, providing a host

Biodiversity in and across food and agriculture systems provides tremendous value to present and future generations. However, across the world we are losing genes, species, and ecosystems faster than we can account for them.

Across the United States, a growing number of schools and educational programs are planting gardens, engaging in Farm to School activities, and integrating plant science into the curriculum.

Academic campuses across the Great Plains can serve as landscapes for teaching and learning about native flora of cultural importance with regard to food, medicine, and lifeways.

Despite the importance of bees, there is a gap in the public's understanding of them.