How can the Green Status of Species Help Inform the Conservation of Wild Tulips

When you think of tulips, chances are you picture vibrant spring gardens or the iconic striped fields of the Netherlands. However, behind these cultivated tulips lies a wilder story — one of resilience, diversity, and survival. In remote mountains, steppe, grasslands, and semi-deserts the wild ancestors that enabled the creation of horticultural tulips reside. Understanding … Continue reading How can the Green Status of Species Help Inform the Conservation of Wild Tulips →

Experts in front of the lens

In Spring 2025, members of the IUCN SSC Wild Tulip Specialist Group visited Kyrgyzstan primarily for outreach and media purposes. The expedition included attending the Tulip Festival in Bishkek and filming wild tulips in remote areas. The team experienced the beauty of an array of diverse tulip species and the stunning landscapes of Central Asia on their journey.

Reflections on the passing of Professor Kaiyrkul Shalpykov (1964 – 2025)

It was with great sadness that the Wild Tulip Specialist Group (WTSG) received the news that our dear colleague and friend Professor Kaiyrkul Shalpykov passed away in late January 2025. Kaiyrkul was a key figure in Kyrgyz tulip research and conservation, and an expert in Central Asian flora. He was well respected in the region … Continue reading Reflections on the passing of Professor Kaiyrkul Shalpykov (1964 – 2025) →

A new era for tulip conservation

In April 2024 the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) approved our application to form a Wild Tulip Specialist Group and last week our group was formally announced to the conservation community through a news piece published by our co-chairs Dr Brett Wilson and Ormon Sultangaziev in the journal Oryx (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605324000863). After some months preparing a … Continue reading A new era for tulip conservation →

Around 50% of Central Asian tulips are Threatened with extinction

The IUCN (the International Union for Conservation) Red List is a crucial resource for conservation (https://www.iucnredlist.org/). It is the go to for understanding which species are threatened and hence is used heavily in policy making by governmental agencies. It also provides an important database for wildlife departments, NGOs, natural resource planners, educational organisations, students, and … Continue reading Around 50% of Central Asian tulips are Threatened with extinction →

Tulipa toktogulica, the story of a new tulip species

In 2019, in the pasturelands near Toktogul reservoir in western Kyrgyzstan the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. Light became a murky orange-yellow and the landscape came alive with long shadows. It was here where we were standing after a long drive over the mountains that we came across a little yellow tulip. … Continue reading Tulipa toktogulica, the story of a new tulip species →

The land of mountains

It was with great excitement that I set off for Central Asia for the first time since the Spring of 2019. After a few years of global pandemic that had left me organising expeditions in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan which I could not be part of, it was finally time to return to the wild! Although … Continue reading The land of mountains →

A code red for Humanity… but the impacts of climate change also threaten the future of wild tulips

Wild tulips are threatened by many localised activities such as livestock overgrazing, mining, urbanisation, and opportunistic collection of flowers and bulbs. These are currently damaging specific populations and causing numbers of individuals to decline. Yet what if there was a threat that occurred across the whole distribution of tulips? What if there was something that … Continue reading A code red for Humanity… but the impacts of climate change also threaten the future of wild tulips →

Welcome to the Balkans!

Tulips can be found growing in many of the temperate mountainous areas of Eurasia. As we know from previous work, Central Asia is the most species-diverse region, yet many tulips are found in Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus as well. Nonetheless, there is another corner of the world that has several exciting and recently described … Continue reading Welcome to the Balkans! →

Pandemic or no pandemic: The tulips will grow

As we enter the days of late autumnal sun, and lockdown drags on here in the U.K. and in many countries around the world, the tulip season creeps up on us once again. Although many things in the future remain uncertain, including whether our fieldwork will take place in the spring of next year, one … Continue reading Pandemic or no pandemic: The tulips will grow →