BOTANIC GARDENS: AGENTS OF CHANGE

GARDENS STAFF ENJOYED A STRONG PRESENCE AT THE RECENT GLOBAL BOTANIC GARDENS CONGRESS, WHERE CONSERVATION AND COOPERATION DOMINATED THE AGENDA. DIRECTOR OF HORTICULTURE AND LIVING COLLECTIONS JOHN SIEMON REPORTS.

Late last year professionals from around the world convened in Melbourne for the only global congress dedicated to botanic gardens, with staff from the Gardens playing a key role by delivering presentations, chairing sessions and running workshops.*

It was only the second time the Global Botanic Gardens Congress (GBGC) had taken place in the southern hemisphere and Gardens staff embraced the opportunity, with highlights including:

• Dr Cathy Offord presenting on Australia’s conservation seed banks and how citizen science can help ex situ conservation of threatened plant species

• Peter Dawe delivering a touching and emotional address on the support the Youth Community Greening program provided to the Cobargo community after the devastating 2019 bushfires

• Sophie Daniel and Dr Marco Duretto sharing the floor to demonstrate the ability of the new National Herbarium of NSW public interpretation model to engage, inspire and empower visitors

• Michael Elgey highlighting the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan’s battle against aggressive woody weed, African Olive, and what life may look like after the last olive branch is removed

• Catherine Judd sharing the future vision for the Trust’s Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan

• Ian Allan bringing a few delegates to tears with a powerful talk entitled ‘From drought and bush fires, to floods and landslides – what we’ve learned to improve the resilience of our living collections in the face of climate change’.

The Gardens was also well represented when it came to the awards announced at the seventh conference – held in Melbourne and attended by 500 delegates from 36 countries. Dr Amelia Martyn Yenson, a former Gardens’ employee and key collaborator, was presented with the Marsh Award for International Plant Conservation, while Caitlin Abela received the Young Member Award.

Among the stellar line-up of international and local speakers there were many thought-provoking presentations. A particular standout was Professor Cristina Lopez–Gallego from the University of Antioquia, who left the audience in awe at the staggering mega-biodiversity of Columbia. The country, a mere 15% of the size of Australia, holds almost 10% of the world’s biodiversity, ranking number one for orchid (around 4,270 species) and bird species, second in the world for plants (22,840), amphibians, butterflies and freshwater fish, third for palm and reptile species, and fourth in mammalian biodiversity. To put this in context, Australia has approximately 24,000 species of plants.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) Secretary General Dr Paul Smith also captured attention by calling on professionals to move away from telling stakeholders about the conservation challenges we face, and instead inform them on how our work is successfully solving many problems.

Recurring messages appeared throughout the conference program, with “conservation horticulture” a dominant theme. Conversations particularly focused on how we might empower the next generation of professionals by developing and rewarding specialist skills that help achieve exceptional outcomes for the globe’s ex situ living collections.

Unsurprisingly, collaboration was also high on the agenda, with delegates acknowledging that the sharing of knowledge and expertise is vital as botanic institutions deal with the impact of climate change and threats to biodiversity. That means exchanging information and living material among seed banks and botanic gardens and their nurseries, while at the same time optimising networking, alliances and data sharing.

Many botanic institutions shared experiences on how climate changerelated disasters were already having a dramatic effect on ecosystems, biodiversity and living collections. Several discussions and workshops were dedicated to assisting botanic gardens prepare Climate Adaptation Plans for their collections and landscapes, as well as disaster plans.

At the same time, botanic gardens were challenged as to how they can help restore ecosystems through, for example, large-scale tree planting for carbon-sequestration. The scale of the challenge, however, only highlighted the fact that we simply don’t have enough available seed, let alone the seedbanks, skills and data required, to combat the changing climate, impact of invasives and habitat destruction.

As is often the case, the conference’s formal and informal networking events proved a highlight – providing as they do, a rare opportunity to meet or reconnect with long-standing international colleagues. Gardens’ staff also relished the opportunity to participate in some pre- and postconference tours to botanic, public and private gardens, as well as a number of specialist nursery suppliers.

The entire team left the Congress re-energised, inspired and driven to continue our efforts to conserve, research, educate and inspire.

A Lesson In Resilience

After experiencing successive natural disasters and climate related events, staff at the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens are well placed to pass on some of the hard lessons they’ve learned.

At this year’s Global Congress, Supervisor Natural Areas & Arboriculture, Ian Allan, did just that, specifically focusing on living collection and garden management.

“My hope was to promote conversation and awareness around the easily overlooked practical impacts and problems we had encountered,” says Allan.

“These include such things as the valuation of living collections as an insured asset, and the need for accurate records to enable assessment of natural disaster impacts.

“Other issues include staff wellbeing, training and preparedness to maintain core garden maintenance duties, and to respond to extended garden closures, water security, and even simple considerations such as whether plant tags can withstand fire.”

For Allan the Melbourne Congress was “inspiring and informative”, particularly sessions on global tree conservation and the field trips to gardens and nurseries, which provided opportunities to “glean ideas on everything from garden signage to pruning techniques, plant sales and landscape design”.

An Inspiring Interpretation

The National Herbarium of New South Wales’ innovative approach to interpretation took centre stage at the recent Global Botanic Gardens Congress, with a presentation focusing on the new facility’s four massive ‘Specimen Walls’.

Sophie Daniel and Dr Marco Duretto told delegates the interpretation aimed to:

• hero the Herbarium’s collections and the Gardens’ staff

• spotlight the relationship between the Australian Institute of Botanical Science’s work and Australian flora

• engage visitors with important issues of conservation, climate change and environmental sustainability

• increase understanding of the importance of plant conservation and sustainable solutions, encouraging visitors to act on behalf of local and global ecosystems.

A key contributor to its success, they said, was the “truly collaborative creative process” undertaken, which involved staff, external research partners, Dharawal First Nations community, designers and many others.

“Through personal stories, plant heroes and stunning imagery, the resulting interpretation offers an immersive sensory exploration of diverse Herbarium and living plant collections,” the pair told the international audience.

“Following the Connect–Understand–Act model of behaviour change, the interpretation aspires to have a truly life-changing effect on our visitors. The stories carry a sense of hope, inspiring visitors through stories of positive conservation outcomes, role-modelling sustainable behaviours and galvanising them towards positive action for the future.”