Find Plant Seed/Seedling Vendors to Support Conservation
Working closely with USDA, CBI analysts and software engineers have created a free easy-to-use Plant Finder and Vendor Match online tool to support participants in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). However, the tool is not limited to the CRP program and can serve the needs of any land stewardship effort requiring large quantities of seeds and seedlings, especially for native species.
In partnership with the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE), CBI has added features to address the needs of the Native Seed Network significantly expanding the native seed customer and vendor base. This Vendor Browse component of a larger planning tool allows users to view registered seed/seedling vendors across the nation. Currently, the tool includes 214 vendors with limited profiles and another 45 who have voluntarily completed full profiles, which includes their complete plant species offerings. For vendors, the tool is designed for easy uploading of company profiles and seed/seedling species inventories.
We encourage all native seed vendors to add their profiles and inventories to the tool. You can do this easily by filling out this simple form located at https://crptool.org/contact/. A member of the CBI team will send you an invite within 24 hours to create your full company profile.
CBI is working with Canopy Planet to identify and map high carbon forest landscapes across the globe. The analysis brings together a number of authoritative global datasets that allows for scientifically defensible estimates for aboveground, belowground, and total carbon storage for the numerous forest types and ecoregions of the world. Results will be included in a planned update to the online Forest Mapper tool developed by Canopy Planet to help identify endangered forests. Canopy Planet, which is a non-profit dedicated to end deforestation and degradation of the world’s critical forests, uses the power of the global marketplace to secure ancient and endangered forests around the world.
Global Wildfire Collective
On March 20, 2025, Dr. Alexandra D. Syphard hosted the Global Wildfire Collective‘s inaugural webinar, Ecological & Human Causes and Impacts of Three Extreme Wildfire Events. Expert panelists compared and analyzed the ecological and human causes and impacts of three extreme wildfire events: (1) Australia: Black Summer bushfires (2019-2020), (2) Chile: Valparaíso wildfires (2024), (3) United States: Los Angeles wildfires (2025). Panelists included Dr. Owen Price, Dr. Alejandro Miranda, Dr. Jon Keeley, Dr. Stijn Erik R. Hantson, Dr. Mauro González, Dr. Susan L. Cutter.
CBI is thrilled to announce that Kim Delfino has joined the Conservation Biology Institute Board of Directors. Kim has worked over thirty years in support of biodiversity conservation throughout California. She is a graduate of UC Davis and McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific where she maintains an adjunct professor position. Kim continues to be actively involved in applying her expertise in numerous efforts across California in the areas of land use planning and policy, species conservation, federal land management, and energy and water policy.
