Pollinating Great Ideas

Combating Plant Blindness and Raising a little Rarity at the 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress

Meg Hirst, Postdoctoral Fellow, Seed Science Research, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Meg Hirst

After a delayed start, the 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress was full steam ahead as 500 delegates from 36 countries met for a week packed with plenaries, oral presentations, symposiums, panel discussions, poster sessions and workshops. I was fortunate to be involved, meeting conference attendees from around the globe. It was both a memorable experience and a great learning opportunity. Here, I share my involvement in the Congress as a member of two teams: Botany Bootcamp and Raising Rarity. Botany Bootcamp with Georgia Warren was held in Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) for the Education and Engagement Workshop Day, and at the conference venue in Melbourne a presentation and poster were shared by the Raising Rarity team.

Education and Engagement Workshop Day Botany Bootcamp: a public program to combat plant blindness

Megan J. Hirst1, Georgia E. Warren2

1Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Victoria, Australia. 2The Sustainable Landscape Company, Victoria, Australia

The springtime weather was on our side at RBGV as we began our Botany Bootcamp session with Congress participants. Botany Bootcamp promotes plant awareness at the local level, introducing basic botany and landscape design, while undertaking moderate-intensity exercise. Exercise prepares the brain to learn, and makes retaining information easier, so by undertaking short bursts of exercise followed by a botanical and practical design component we all get to enjoy the benefits of a shared outdoor learning experience.

After we warmed up, the participants (with a map and a hand lens) followed us along the planned route through the gardens (Figure 1c). We physically demonstrated the binomial system (yes, it is possible) at a Ficus macrophylla and entered Fern Gully to talk about plant blindness.

Figure 1b. A Congress participant examining the florets of an everlasting.

Credit: Emily Seif.

Going big with the botany, Georgia and I decided to showcase the amazing Australian flora given our international audience. We got up close with iconic wattles, banksias and everlastings. We dissected plants in the Sensory Garden and hugged a tree (of two metres girth no less, requiring six participants for a full embrace) and through Guilfoyle’s lens, Georgia evoked the former garden director’s intention that visitors be able to enjoy sweeping views among his iconic plantings.

Plant and Biodoversity Conservation theme

Raising Rarity: Testing the Horticultural Potential for Plant Conservation

Megan Hirst, Russell Larke, Matthew Henderson, John Arnott Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Victoria, Australia

Defining rarity, and why a species occurs where it does, fascinates botanists and ecologists alike, and has for some time, though now there is an urgency attached to such work. In this presentation I spoke of the great practical importance in identifying the mechanisms that underlie rarity or commonness for the management of endangered and declining species, as well as species whose ranges are expanding. The aim of Raising Rarity is to develop a reliable program that gives back to the very thing we are all concerned about, the conservation of rare and threatened plants and raising awareness of their tenuous positions. Much support is needed for in situ conservation work and the actions required to save species at risk in the wild. Support is also needed to safeguard species through ex situ measures such as germplasm banking, living collections, and seed orcharding.

Engaging the power of the public with the power of plants, as taken from the previous Global Botanic Congress, positions botanic gardens as vital hotspots where plant science and people meet. But to raise awareness we need to be mindful of people’s perceptions and experiences.

Figure 1c. The Botany Bootcamp Congress map designed by Georgia, given to each workshop participant.

Credit: Emily Seif.

Figure 1a. Georgia and Meg with Congress participants in the Sensory Garden, RBGV.

Credit: Emily Seif.

We are worried about plant extinction and strategies necessary to combat plants at risk, yet there is another concern: the extinction of experience. If we reduce our interactions with nature, we are not only physically removing ourselves and reducing connectivity, we are less likely to know about plants. The less we know about rare plants and the processes that threaten them, the less likely we are to act for their conservation. Plant blindness and reduction in botanical knowledge are real concerns for plant conservation going forward.

As scientists and horticulturists, we recognise how programs such as Raising Rarity can be the glue connecting disparate moving parts, bringing horticultural knowledge and conservation science together with education and outreach programs to form an integrated approach. Consider conservation horticulture as the driver and change agent, actions of which are strongly aligned to key targets associated with the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and Australia’s

Figure 2b. Building on a key message from the previous Congress, ‘Engage the Power of the Public with the Power of Plants’.

Presentation slide, Meg Hirst.

Figure 2a. Meg presenting the Raising Rarity integrated approach for plant conservation at the Congress in the Plant and Biodiversity Conservation theme.

Credit: Morgan Gostel.

Biodiversity Conservation Strategy (2010−2030). And with an increasing focus on developing and managing ex situ collections as part of integrated species conservation management (as referenced in the new edition of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation Germplasm Guidelines, 2021), now is the time to develop an integrated framework that embraces collaboration across an organisation’s programs and departments. Botanic gardens can be agents of change for plant conservation, and Raising Rarity is attempting to be a vital part of that.

Poster Session

Raising Rarity: The Cranbourne Collection

Matthew Henderson, Russell Larke, John Arnott, Megan Hirst Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Victoria, Australia

Conservation horticulturist, Matthew Henderson (Figure 3) designed a beautiful visual guide and supporting information panels to showcase the Raising Rarity activities undertaken at RBGV Cranbourne. Matthew presented the poster and made time throughout the Congress to connect with colleagues. This very action is an example of the vital role in engagement and science communication for project support. Matthew’s work is showcased here, working with rare and threatened Victorian flora, and growing and displaying these species in an accessible horticultural setting. It is a complementary strategy to save plants at risk by assessing their horticultural potential and establishing their suitability for introduction into cultivated systems, such as the home garden. The long-term goal for Raising Rarity is to partner with commercial growers who are aligned with our values and vision to raise revenue that contributes to our ongoing RBGV conservation work.

And that’s a wrap

Thank you to the BGCI, BGANZ, the organising committee and everyone else involved in putting together this memorable Congress. It was a botanic feast. And a big thank you to Chris Russell RBGV Cranbourne and the awesome Raising Rarity crew (Figure 4, please note Caitlin Gray, Scott Levy and Mandy Thomson are not pictured).

Figure 4. And that’s a Congress wrap with Costa. From left to right Chris Russell, Kaishan Qu, Russell Larke, Costa Georgiadis, John Arnott, Meg Hirst, Marie Velthoven and Matthew Henderson.

Credit: Patricia Malcolm.

Figure 3. Matthew Henderson, Conservation Horticulturist, and his Raising Rarity A0-sized creation.

Credit: Caitlin Gray.

Visit Botanic Gardens Conservation International for more information on the Global Congress Proceedings here.