This project has received a commitment for matching contributions up to a total of $110,000. The matching amount will be reconciled weekly. The match is made possible through the generosity of members of the WEfficiency Hui, a group of philanthropic organizations and individuals including Kokua Hawaii Foundation, The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, ABC Stores, and sustainability advocate and community leader Randy Ching.

Our Mission: The Botanical Research Center (BRC) at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is the first LEED-Gold certified building on Kauai. It opened in 2008 and houses a herbarium with more than 70,000 plant specimens, a botanical library, seed bank, laboratories, and work space for visiting scientists.

The building also houses our Rare Book Room with an irreplaceable collection of botanical prints, illustrations, and volumes dating back to the 1500s. Scholars and researchers from around the world access this collection and are awed by the quality and breadth of the works carefully housed in the temperature controlled and ultra-secure environment. It was designed with sustainability in mind – the ability to withstand a Category 5 hurricane while providing space for 50 years of future growth.

Why WEfficiency: The NTBG gardens are not only beautiful microcosms of tropical plant life, but also living laboratories for scientific research, conservation, and cultivation, as well as living classrooms for educational enrichment. Our internship programs and practical courses engage future botanists, horticulturists, ethnobotanists, environmental journalists, and medical practitioners. The visitor program connects a wide and diverse audience to the gardens and the work of NTBG through tours, events, and volunteer opportunities.

WEfficiency will enable NTBG to upgrade the climate and humidity control systems in the 22,000 square foot BRC which will save $60,000 per year. These funds will be used to support the important work of the garden – protecting and saving tropical plants for this generation and the next.