IGIA Adopts Voluntary Code of Conduct

On March 2, 2005, the Illinois Nurserymen’s Association Board of Directors unanimously approved to adopt the Missouri Botanical Garden voluntary code of conduct, developed in December 2001.

• Ensure that invasive potential is assessed prior to introducing and marketing plant species new to North America. Invasive potential should be assessed by the introducer or qualified experts using emerging risk assessment methods that consider plant characteristics and prior observations or experience with the plant elsewhere in the world. Additional insights may be gained through extensive monitoring on the nursery site prior to further distribution.
• Work with regional experts and stakeholders to determine which species in your region are either currently invasive or will become invasive. Identify plants that could be suitable alternatives in your region.
• Develop and promote alternative plant material through plant selection and breeding.
• Where agreement has been reached among nursery associations, government, academia and ecology and conservation organizations, phase-out existing stocks of those specific invasive species in regions where they are considered to be a threat.
• Follow all laws on importation and quarantine of plant materials across political boundaries.
• Encourage customers to use, and garden writers to promote, non-invasive plants.