Botanic gardens and society – a changing relationship

Vernon Heywood

Centre for Plant Diversity and SystematicsCentre for Plant Diversity and Systematics School of Plant Sciences School of Plant Sciences

The University of Reading, The University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AS, UKReading RG6 6AS, UK

A world of resources and heritage for humankind

‘A mark of a good botanic garden is its ability to adapt to changing circumstances but at the same time provide a high quality amenity and a good science programme’

G.T.Prance

Botanic gardens

‘They inform and educate; they are showcases for the living world, places where science and people meet.’

Declaration of Gran Canaria, 1985

One of the essential missions of botanic gardens is to allow people to connect with plants

‘…to explore and explain the world of plants’ Mission statement, Royal Botanic Gatden, Edinburgh

A world of resources and heritage for humankind

The multiple roles of botanic gardens

• centres for plant introduction• centres for ex situ conservation and in situ support• sources of urban and peri-urban biodiversity• official centres for the implementation of

conservation legislation and instruments• holders of national collections • as a historical archive• education and training• research in ethnobotany and medicinal and aromatic

plants• academic resource centres• centres of re-creation• centres for sustainable development

Confusion of purpose

Throughout their history botanic gardens have suffered from a confusion of purpose in the mind of the public – a confusion that persists to the present day

Crise d’identité

Of equal concern is the confusion of purpose within the botanic garden community

Disharmony of function

Disharmony of function is often a concern with so many diverse objectives and uses of the garden

Watson, Heywood & Crowley (1993)

Useful or ornamental?

• 16th and 17th centuries – from the cultivation, provision and study of medicinal plants to the cultivation of ornamental exotics

• 18th century – ‘by 1750 the ‘physic garden’ was an emblem of civilization: means of, and evidence for, rational knowledge of nature…’

• end of 18th century, a means of improving agriculture and an instrument of colonization – gardens as resource centres

The essence of a botanic garden is its

living plant collections

Collections

Documented collections is one of the features that distinguish botanic gardens from parks, recreation grounds and wilderness reserves

Conservation – a new purpose

The conservation role of botanic gardens was foreseen in the early 20th century but not formally developed until the 1970s

Nor surprisingly, today with increasing concern at the destruction, fragmentation and degradation of habitats, many botanic gardens have focused much of their effort on conserving plant diversity

Biodiversity loss and conservation

• Science and technology alone will not be able to solve the problems of biodiversity loss and environmental destruction unless it is willed by humanity

• The major challenge then is to persuade the general public, the voter, the taxpayer, indeed all sectors of society of the need for action and to provide the budget to pay for it

• And botanic gardens can play a key part in this process.

Linkages and networks

• The origins of networking

• The Garden Catalogue, the Index Seminum and the exchange of germplasm

• The first botanic garden associations

• The first conservation networks

• Networking and linkages for today and tomorrow

A long tradition of networking

Since their origin in the 16th century, botanic gardens have formed part of the network of scholarship, science and learning

The early networks

• Botanic gardens became linked through a common interest in the exploration of plant diversity

• The colonial networks

• The first global network formed by botanic gardens came through the Index Seminum

Colonial networks

• Networks for exploration

• Networks for trade

• Networks for economic exploitation

• Development of tropical agricultlure

Botanic gardens and the exchange of germplasm

Although some sharing of material did occur, perhaps the origins of large scale exchange of plants began with the agreement between the Chelsea Physic Garden and Leiden University in 1683

Hortus Botanicus Leiden

The seeds of exchange

The Index Seminum

– the first issued by the University Botanic Garden in Oxford in the 18th century

From the Index Seminum to the Gene Bank

• The development of the seed list• Focus on novelty and numbers of species• Rivalry – which garden has the largest number

of species in cultivation?• The development of uniformity out of diversity –

the botanic garden flora• The recent focus on material of wild origin • The recent focus on native species

Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Wakehurst Place, UK

The first international meetings

• 1er Congrès International pour la Protection de la Nature, Paris (1923)

• 2ème Congrès International pour la Protection de la Nature, Paris (1931)

IABG

IABG originated as the sub-commission of Botanic Gardens of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), which held a colloquium on ‘The scientific organization of Botanic Gardens’ in Paris 4–6 June 1953, dealing with:

Topics of the 1953 Paris meeting

• the definition of Botanic Gardens • accurate identification of cultivated plants• protection of nature and of living collections• practical recommendations for Seed Lists• experimental gardens to include the preservation

of genetical experimental material• international relations between Botanic Gardens• Regular meetings of botanic garden

representatives

Recommendations from the Paris Meeting

• That a section be established within the International Union for the Protection of Nature (later IUCN) to work out the role of Botanic Gardens in the protection of plants and plant communities

• That an Index of Botanic Gardens be prepared by the International Union of Taxonomy (later IAPT) with the aid of IUBS

The aims of IABG• To promote international cooperation between botanic gardens,

arboreta and similar institutes maintaining scientific collections of living plants.

• to promote the study of taxonomy of plants to benefit the world community.

• to promote documentation and exchange of information, living plants and specimens between botanic gardens and similar institutes.

• to promote the conservation of plants through cultivation and other means within botanic gardens and similar institutes.

• to promote the introduction to cultivation of appropriate plants of benefit to the community.

• to promote habitat conservation by cooperation between IABG and other relevant bodies.

• to promote horticulture as an art and science.

The first conservation networks

• In 1975, the IABG at its Plenary Session held in Moscow ‘recognized that numerous botanic gardens of the world, united under the auspices of IABG represent a powerful force, which is capable of rendering effective assistance in the conservation of plant life in all continents’

• Also in 1975, a major international conference on ‘The functions of living collections in conservation and conservation-orientated research and public education’ held at RBG Kew

In 1978, a second Kew conference on ‘Survival or Extinction: the practical role of botanic gardens in the conservation of rare and threatened plants’ as held, at which it was proposed that the Threatened Plants Committee of IUCN should set up a ‘Botanic Gardens Coordinating Body’.

IUCN/TPC Botanic Gardens Coordinating Body (1980–1986)

by 1986, 154 botanic gardens (plus the 116 in the USSR through Moscow Main BG) had contributed data on the threatened plants they held in cultivation and the database run by the Threatened Plants Unit at Kew contained of 22 232 records

• In 1984, a questionnaire was circulated to all known botanic gardens requesting information on their structure, function, facilities, collections, research, conservation activities, training, and teaching and entered into a database which was then used to produce the Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy (1989)_ and the Fifth edition of the International Directory of Botanic Gardens (1990).

• In 1985, an international conference on ‘Botanic Gardens and the World Conservation Strategy’ was held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. This endorsed the draft Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy and issued the Declaration of Gran Canaria, calling on botanic gardens to work together to implement it so as to defend plantlife for the benefit of all people, now and in the future.

• In 1986, IUCN agreed to create a more substantial programmeand this became the IUCN Botanic Gardens Conservation Secretariat (later BGCI) based at the Conservation Monitoring Centre’s Offices at RBG Kew which started work in January 1987.

Current and future linkages

• Global networks and linkages

• Regional networks

• National Botanic Garden associations

• National level linkages

Global networks and linkages today

• Global linkages covering all botanic gardens – the role of IABG

• International conservation coordination – the role of BGCI

• Linkages with UN and other international agencies and NGOs (e.g. UNESCO, UNEP, FAO, IPGRI, IUCN, WWF, CIFOR, IUFRO, WRI, IUBS, ISHS, CI)

Regional networks and linkages

• IABG regional divisions: Europe, Ibero-Macaronesia, Latin America, Australasia-Oceania, E. Asia + link with AABGA

• BGCI regional offices

• Regional networks

National associations of botanic gardens

It is highly desirable that each country should have some form of national association or network of botanic gardens by means of which they can share experiences and facilities, offer a common platform and speak with a single voice on national issues that affect them all

National level linkages

with organizations and agencies in • biodiversity (incl. conservation networks)• conservation• horticulture• agriculture• universities, colleges, schools• genebanks• civil society• NGOs

We love to network! The present obsession with information is rooted in human nature.

R.J. Cox (2000)

Networking for botanic gardens in the electronic age

• Full advantage must be taken of electronic communication and sharing of information, experience and problems

• Every botanic garden should maintain a website as a means of communication with the wider public as well as with the botanic garden and conservation communities

The future: strength in diversity

The botanic garden community will continue

to benefit from diversity –

• diversity in size and capacity

• diversity in mission

• diversity in association with other gardens

It will need to seek and develop new

linkages with other scientific, technical and

cultural organizations.