The PLANTCOL project is a response to targets set in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and in so doing so complies with actions outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity.

It has enabled the partners to develop a prototype navigation system for sharing plant information from different databases in a common format and facilitated an IT mentality in the daily management of their collections.

The PLANTCOL website provides a user-friendly interface allowing the visitor to search data from different plant collections. This initiative has liberated Belgium's ex-situ plant collections to a worldwide audience and as a result increases the contribution of the nation to plant conservation, research and education.

The information about the plants is also available within some gardens via an e-kiosk. This represents a station where visitors can make queries and print the results. This facility expands the number of people having access to collection information beyond those with personal computers. Belgium's plant collections are truly available to all.