Botanical Sanctuary Network Application

Apply to join the BSN network of over 90 Botanical Sanctuaries across the country.

The mission of United Plant Savers is to preserve, conserve and restore native medicinal plants and their habitats of the US and Canada, while ensuring their abundant, renewable supply for future generations. To this end, United Plant Savers established one of our most important projects: the Botanical Sanctuary Network. As we became more deeply involved in the complexities of plant preservation, we realized that in order to preserve plants we must first preserve and protect the habitat in which our native plant communities thrive. What better way than to create a network of sanctuaries dedicated to restoring and preserving habitat for wildlife, both plants and animals.

Below is a link to download the application as a pdf.file. You can then use it as a template to base your application on.

Please take the time time to read all the criteria listed below before submitting an application.

UpS is in the process of establishing a network of medicinal botanical sanctuaries throughout the country. Our goal is to help establish Botanical Sanctuaries that not only serve as rich depositories for 'at risk' North American medicinal plants, but also serve as educational centers for plant conservation and organic cultivation. These Botanical Sanctuaries will also serve as important preservers of seed stock to be generated and maintained. Land, once acknowledged as a UpS Botanical Sanctuary, can use the UpS emblem to identify themselves as such. UpS Botanical Sanctuaries will also be eligible for special UpS planting grants and consultation services. UpS Botanical Sanctuaries will also be identified in the newsletter and on the website for educational purposes. To apply for UpS Botanical Sanctuary status, individuals and/or groups need meet the following criteria:

• Applicants must be current members (at any level of membership) of UpS and continue to maintain current membership to remain in the BSN network.
• A one-time fee of $100 must accompany the application to the BSN.
• The land needs to be either privately owned by the parties applying for the UpS Botanical Sanctuary status, or in a previously established land trust. Under special circumstances public land may also qualify.
• The land needs to be either already richly endowed with native species or be in the process of being planted with them. Some of the plants listed on the UpS 'at risk' and/or 'to watch' lists should be represented when appropriate to the Sanctuary's ecosystem.

A major aspect of UpS Botanical Sanctuaries is the educational or land consultation aspect. What is your primary educational purpose for applying for UpS Botanical Sanctuary status? How do you propose to achieve this?

Land considered a UpS Botanical Sanctuary should to be open to the public for a period of time for educational purposes (either one day a week, or one day a month, available to students, or other scheduled events). What is your prospective time for being open to the public? And how do you propose doing this? i.e, self guided herb walks, classes, events, workshops, planting projects, etc.? Does your program include working with children?

Sanctuaries are places where research on native plants medicinal plant conservation and cultivation is undertaken. In what ways can you be part of this research?

The United Plant Savers Botanical Network is dedicated to helping members create botanical sanctuaries on the land they live on. These Sanctuaries will serve as repositories of at risk native medicinal plants as well as educational and research centers helping to raise public awareness of at risk medicinals. Or they can be established purely as places of beauty and refuge.


Benefits of becoming a member of the Botanical Sanctuary Network include:

• A beautiful sign (metal w/yellow and green lettering) with the UpS logo on it to place at the entrance to your Sanctuary signifying this as a UpS Botanical Sanctuary
• Priority Consideration for UpS Community Grants. Our Community Grants award $200-$500 dollars for community projects involving at risk plant restoration and preservation. Sanctuary members are given first priority
• One Land Consultation Service by a UpS Land Consultant. See the newsletter for further information or call our home office and ask Betzy for further details.
• Listing on the UpS Website
• Listing in the UpS newsletter when you join
• Four Weatherproof Signs that designate the property as a Sanctuary being used for plant research and education purposes

Botanical Sanctuary Application

To apply for membership in the Botanical Sanctuary Network you must be a current member of UpS. Your land must be either privately owned, in a land trust or public land that meets certain criteria (public land applicants should contact UpS).

Please answer the following questions in some detail and mail in with a check for $100 to join the Sanctuary Network. The $100 fee is a one time only fee and entitles you to the above benefits plus a Botanical Sanctuary Resource Guide that will be helpful to sanctuary members; i.e., where to order botanical signs for medicine trails, sources of grants and funding raising, useful books and information sources. Send check and application to UpS, P.O. Box 400, East Barre, VT 05649.

1. Please provide details of your land, size, location, time on land, existing medicinal plant species, current conservation projects. What makes your land special?
2. What educational programs are offered and on what basis (classes, walks, workshops, plantings)? How often are programs held?
3. Please provide additional details describing why you want to be part of the UpS Botanical Sanctuary Network. (Use additional pages as needed)

Once accepted into the BSN, and while it is in process, you are welcome to submit an article to the Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation. We invite you to send us photos, stories and Sanctuary tales to publish in our Journal and Bulletins. We would like to be able to list your Sanctuary on our website and publications to direct students and other members to visit -- with your permission. Many Sanctuaries have been in the Network for over a decade and there have been exciting plant and people stories to tell. We hope you will consider joining the Network to receive the benefits we can offer and to foster community.



DOWNLOAD APPLICATION FORM HERE