Please visit the Vailima Botanical Gardens (VBG) to see and learn more about Samoa’s endemic flora! We are working closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) to develop theme gardens at the VBG for rare plants, medicinal plants, butterfly plants and ornamentals under the “Vailima Botanical Gardens Zoning Plan”. We have also recently (October 2022) opened a brand new wheelchair accessible trail that takes you from the entrance of the VBG to the Information Fale!

Introduction to Samoa’s plants

Samoa has around 770 species of native plants. Of this, there are around 225 species of fern and fern allies (plants that sit between being a true fern and a flowering plant), and about 550 species of flowering plants. As the “primary producers” plants form the habitat and food source for all our animals including birds, flying foxes, reptiles and insects and other invertebrates, so we need to look after them!

Of the flowering plants, around 1/3 are endemic (only found in Samoa) and 108 are considered rare and/or threatened (Whistler 2011). Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants in Samoa with about 101 species, but the largest genera are Cytrandra, Psychotria and then Syzygium.

Focus of our plant conservation work

We do our best to carry out our conservation actions both “in situ” (in the plant’s natural habitat) and “ex situ” (away from the plant’s natural habitat), as both methods are important to the survival of rare and threatened species. For “in situ”, (in  the plant’s natural habitat) we work closely with our partner villages to collect and propagate these rare plants in the village plant nurseries, so to keep the plant as close to their natural environments as possible. We also manage threats to plants, which include climate change, invasive species and human-impacts (e.g., logging, agricultural development etc).

For “ex situ” conservation, we collect as many rare and endemic plants as possible and propagate them in our rare plant nursery at the Vailima Botanical Gardens. Once these plants grow strong, we then transplant them into the Vailima Botanical Gardens or at the developing NUS Peace Garden. Without ex situ conservation, in the event of a natural disaster, such as a large cyclone, all the wild populations of the plant could be wiped out in its natural habitat, and we would lose that plant species forever. However, with ex situ conservation, we can safeguard species and ensure their survival, especially in the face of climate change induced weather changes and increased natural disasters.

SCS is currently working to conserve 8 rare endemic plants in total, 5 are included on the ‘Rare Plants of Samoa’ list (Balaka samoensis, Manilkara samoensis, Syzygium christophersenii, Syzygium vaupelii and Vavaea samoense) (Whistler 2011), along with 3 that are not included but are considered rare endemics by local environmentalists (Clinostigma samoense, Clinostigma savaiiense and Alectryon samoensis). Out of these 8 species, we have successfully collected 5 species (B. insularis, M. samoensis, C. samoense, C. savaiiense and A. samoensis). The three species that we have not managed to collect are due to a lack of data on locality, very isolated habitats that we have not been able to visit, rarity or possible extinction of the species.

We collect rare plants at a number of locations which include  a variety of vegetation communities: Mt. Le Pue/Mt. Vaivai and Malololelei on Upolu, and Mt. Matavanu/Safotu, Falealupo and Aopo on Savaii. While we mainly focus on rare endemic species (rare plants that are only found in Samoa), we also collect other rare species (found elsewhere other than Samoa), such as tatania (Acacia simplex) and vili (Gyrocarpus americanus), medicinal plants (such as matalafi (Psychotria species) and butterfly plants (such as talafalu (Micromelum minutum)). All plants will eventually be planted in the Vailima Botanical Gardens for safeguarding and to increase public awareness of these special species. Increasingly we are trying to propagate rare plants in village plant nurseries and build capacity of village communities to safeguard their own rare plants. Currently we are supporting nurseries in Falealupo, Aopo and Uafato and hope to do so in more villages in future.

Our plant conservation work has been supported by several donors, most notably Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (KNCF), Franklinia Foundation, and the British High Commission in Samoa, as well as friends of Dr Art Whistler, the author of the “Flora of Samoa” who passed away from covid in April 2020.

Current theme gardens at the Vailima Botanical Gardens

In the Vailima Botanical Gardens the Samoa Conservation Society in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment are growing a series of theme plant collections. This is a long term project over a 10 year period (2020-2030) and will be developed in stages.

Currently (October 2022) the plant collections include:

• Rare and threatened plants
• Medicinal plants
• Butterfly plants
• Lowland rainforest (about to commence)
• Coastal rainforest (about to commence)

Map of zone 1 of the garden development

Learn more about our Plant Conservation Efforts!