Our History

The Orchid Conservation Alliance (OCA) was founded in 2004 as a California corporation and a 501(c) 3 federal tax-exempt organization. A more detailed account of the history was published in Orchid Digest in 2019. Currently the OCA has a mailing list of about 525 members and about 25 orchid societies.

The focus of the OCA has been to raise money to conserve land in orchid-rich regions of the world. Since its inception, the OCA has raised nearly $500,000 to support the creation or expansion of 7 orchid reserves, and preserved nearly 3000 acres of pristine, primary biodiverse orchid rich habitats.

Our fund raising is a mix of different activities: presentations to orchid societies, booths at orchid shows, a presence on Facebook and Instagram, direct mailing to our membership, and telling people what we are doing every chance that we get. In addition, our Orchids in the Wild™ Ecotours have succeeded in introducing hundreds of orchid lovers to the wonders of seeing orchids growing in their natural habitats in countries around the globe: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, France, Greece, China, Thailand, Papua New Guinea and Madagascar.