This is a non-profit, non-government center with its headquarters on the island of Kauai

NTBG and its gardens are the only U.S. tropical gardens
in a natural open-air setting.  All other botanical gardens with tropical plants are only grown under glass structures.

The mission of NTBG is to research, conserve, reintroduce, and educate.

Many native Hawaiian plants and tropical plants elsewhere are endangered or near extinction due to population pressures and over grazing by livestock. The aim of NTBG is to save native plants from extinction and to research yet-to-be discovered and classified plants growing in the tropics.

Many of these yet to be discovered plants hold promise of medicinal value.

Other than the main campus, NTBG also maintains five other gardens with one, named The Kampong located on the U.S. mainland.

The Kampong is a 11 acre garden located in Coconut Grove, in Miami, Florida. It is a tropical paradise of tropical fruits, palms, flowering trees, ficus, aroids, and bamboo. NTBG boasts of having the largest collection of breadfruit under cultivation in the world.

The breadfruit germplasm is being maintained and studied because it is an important staple human diet in many developing tropical regions of the world. This tree plays an important role in providing sustenance for the local population and at the same time maintaining  reforestation in land clearings.