Also known as the Island of Enchantment, Puerto Rico’s towering mountains, glistening beaches, dense rainforests, and mysterious watery caves are home to thousands of species of plants, including many that only live in Puerto Rico. 

Puerto Rico’s people and wildlife depend on its plants. Since island ecosystems are usually very interconnected, every Puerto Rican plant has other species depending on it for survival. Additionally, Puerto Rico’s people depend on the island’s ecosystems for agriculture, fishing, and tourism.

Despite its importance, Puerto Rico’s natural beauty is in danger. After decades of deforestation, hurricanes, earthquakes, and the introduction of invasive species, over 70 species in Puerto Rico are now listed as Threatened or Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than half of these species are plants. In order to save Puerto Rico, conservation organizations are hard at work, including the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Southeastern Center for Conservation. The Garden partners with local conservation leaders in Puerto Rico to safeguard rare and threatened plants, remove invasive species, and restore natural habitats on the island. 

This exhibit showcases the incredible photography of one of these conservation leaders, Omar Monsegur-Rivera. Each photograph features a rare endemic plant species from Monsegur-Rivera’s fieldwork in Puerto Rico.

About the photographer: Omar Monsegur-Rivera

Born and raised in Puerto Rico on a shade coffee plantation, Omar Monsegur-Rivera grew up connected to plants. As shade coffee farming requires an understanding of the relationship between trees and coffee plants, this environment laid the foundation for his work in ecology. His work ranges across Puerto Rico from the dissolving bedrock of the northern Karst region to the forests in the mountains’ foothills to the natural reserves on the Virgin Islands. 

After completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Puerto Rico, Monsegur-Rivera joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2009, leading a project on the protection of a Puerto Rican native shrub (Varronia rupicola). Monsegur-Rivera’s work includes research studies, monitoring, plant rescue, education, and photography. 

Monsegur-Rivera’s photography brings awareness to the beauty of Puerto Rican plants. The photos he takes are incredibly close up, revealing the plants’ tiny details. He takes the photos in the wild; the black background is created by the camera’s tight focus, blurring the details behind his subject. Some of these species are so rare that these photos are the first ever public photos of these plants.