16 November 2025
18 min watch
Comoros: The lost palm
Learn how Kew's Palm House renovation sparked a search for a critically endangered palm species in the Comoros.
During 2023 and 2024, an international conservation team made up of Kew scientists and horticulturists, alongside experts from the National Herbarium of the University of the Comoros and Karthala National Park (KNP) undertook two expeditions to try to locate a wild population of Ravenea moorei in the Comoro Islands.
With the renovation of the Palm House on the horizon, it was a race against time to find wild individuals of this rare palm species, with Kew's specimen thought to be the only cultivated example in the world.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew would like to thank Yahaya Ibrahim (Centre National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique) for his support in establishing the partnership and for his participation in the 2023 mission. Hugh Doulton (Dahari) generously provided advice and invaluable introductions for the Kew team in the Comoro Islands.
Karthala National Park would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Environments Facility (GEF) and the Comorian Government.
The missions in the Comoro Islands were generously funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the International Palm Society’s ‘Save the Species’ campaign.
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