Guillaume Viscardi, here observing a red ginger flower (Alpinia purpurata) on the slopes of Mount Pelée, is the director of the Conservatoire Botanique National de Martinique. This association, which works mainly for the knowledge and preservation of the island's threatened flora and habitats, carries out numerous actions to preserve the endangered species, the rich natural plant heritage of Martinique with its high rate of endemism, as well as the original and diversified ecosystems of the island. It deals primarily with some 117 species considered by the IUCN as threatened in Martinique. Among them are, in particular, the intoxicating wood used in the past by the Amerindians to catch fish and the guaiac whose seeds are harvested and cultivated to be replanted. Conservatory collections are also developed in nurseries to avoid the disappearance of these species.