The Merwin Conservancy

Funding Projects & Founding Circle

Help us Fund THE BOTANICAL CATALOGING PROJECT

Essential to our mission, we will begin our Botanical Cataloging Project in early 2012. This “botanical garden” quality cataloging will happen in partnership with the National Tropical Botanical Garden. The NTBG is a 40-year-old, world-class organization with over 2000 acres of gardens and preserves and a living collection that is unparalleled. Their botanical expertise and reputation bring a level of scientific rigor that will garner international credibility.

• The Merwin Botanical Cataloging Project will encompass over 800 unique and rare palm species.
• Importantly, we will capture William’s oral history through video interviews. This provenance information is essential to unlocking the value of the collection.
• The project includes: a scientist; GIS specialist for GPS mapping; field researchers; accession database manager; William’s interviewer, Kepa Maly; a botanist; and various assistants.
• The specimens will be stored at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) on Kauai, one of the most impressive Herbariums in the world.
• It’s a significant commitment of time and money, but critical to our mission. The project is estimated to take two years and will cost $150,000. We have raised 60% of the funds thus far and are excited to embark on the project!

Become one of our FOUNDING CIRCLE DONORS 

We are grateful to our Founding Circle Donors. Their generous philanthropy at this critical stage allows us to fund our start-up and operating expenses as we develop our foundation and strategic plan. We are off and running with myriad projects underway!  Our Founding Circle donors ensure that the legacy of W.S. Merwin, both his botanical and literary treasures, will be preserved for future generations.

For information on any of our projects, please contact us at 808-579-8876 or email us at info@merwinconservancy.org. Naturally, we welcome any level donation you are able to give—and look forward to a partnership advancing the mission of The Merwin Conservancy. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; all donations are tax deductible as defined by the IRS.

Just as Henry Thoreau wrote Walden Pond on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s property, who might write and study in W.S. Merwin’s palm forest?  What school children might have their lives changed by putting their hands in the soil and planting palms?