The Chicago Botanic Garden has announced a $21 million gift from the Negaunee Foundation to advance its conservation and eco-restoration efforts.

The largest gift in the garden’s history will fund a pilot program to create plant studbooks, or breed registries, to support healthy mating for endangered plant species, WTTW reports. The garden also plans to use the gift to hire a director of conservation impact and a curator to oversee its expanding seed and pollen banks, which serves as a tool to prevent plants from extinction in the wild. The goal of the garden’s work is to reestablish plants in the wild.

“With this historic gift, Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action will build on its bold and creative science initiatives to save plants from extinction and protect the natural habitats that sustain our world,” the Chicago Botanic Garden states on its website.

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