Botanic Gardens Garde… · Botanic Gardens: Using biodiversity to improve human well-being Kerry...

Botanic Gardens:Using biodiversity to

improve human well-being

Botanic Gardens:Using biodiversity to improvehuman well-being

Kerry Waylen

April 2006ISBN: 1-905164-08-4Published by Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

Recommended citation: Waylen, K., 2006. Botanic Gardens: using biodiversity toimprove human well-being. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, UK.

Further copies of this report can be requested from Botanic Gardens ConservationInternational, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UK.Alternatively, please email [email protected] or visit www.bgci.org/wellbeing todownload the report.

The case studies presented in this reportdemonstrate only a fraction of the workbeing undertaken by botanic gardens tosupport Target 13. They have beenselected to show the range of activitiesunderway and the scope for futuredevelopment of this work. An onlinedatabase of similar projects has beendeveloped by Botanic GardensConservation International (BGCI) as aresult of an international survey and willbe updated as new information becomesavailable. Support provided by HSBCthrough the Investing in Natureprogramme has been invaluable indeveloping over 40 projects relating toplants and human well-being.

BGCI has played a key role in thedevelopment of the GSPC and is fullycommitted to supporting itsimplementation. We look forward toworking with our members and a widerange of partners to secure the future ofplant species vital for healthcare,nutrition and livelihoods through research,information exchange, training, provisionof education and practical projects.

By publishing this report, we hope to raiseawareness of the wide range of activitiesbotanic gardens around the world areengaged in, and the important contributionthis unique network of organisations ismaking to address the critical issue ofimproving human well-being.

Sara Oldfield, March 2006

Botanic gardens are a major force for theconservation of plants around the world. Many of the world’s globally threatenedplant species are represented in theirliving collections or seed banks whichcollectively provide an insurance policysupporting the maintenance of globalbiodiversity. It is now widely recognisedthat in the long term biodiversity will onlybe secure if the values provided byspecies and ecosystems areacknowledged and utilised sustainably.Plant species, including many that arethreatened with extinction, are vital in thiscontext by directly providing a wide rangeof resources as well as underpinningecological services. Botanic gardens havethe skills and expertise to study andmanage plants in cultivation, and in thewild, as a major contribution to ecologicaland human well-being.

This report summarises current workundertaken by botanic gardens aroundthe world that relates to human well-being with a focus on nutrition,healthcare, financial poverty alleviationand community support. The GlobalStrategy for Plant Conservation agreed byparties to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in 2002 has helped stimulate arenewed commitment to saving theworld’s plants with 16 ambitious targetsto be met by 2010. The work undertakenby botanic gardens around the worldsummarised in this report supportsvarious targets of the GSPC andspecifically Target 13 which calls for: The decline of plant resources, andassociated indigenous and localknowledge, innovations and practicesthat support sustainable livelihoods, localfood security and health care, halted.

Botanic Gardens: Using biodiversity to improve human well-being2

Foreword

Boxed Features

What do we mean by “Human Well-being”? ....................... 5What makes a botanic garden?........................................... 6“People-Plant” Origins ......................................................... 7Green Youth Farm ................................................................ 8Scouting for native plants in Buenos Aires.......................... 9The importance of partnership ............................................ 9

Introduction ............................................................................. 4Biodiversity conservation needs to value people................... 4Efforts for development need to value the environment........ 4Linking conservation and poverty reduction –the policy context ................................................................... 5

The role of botanic gardens ................................................ 6Reflecting society’s priorities.................................................. 6Mission for well-being ............................................................ 7Education................................................................................ 7Research................................................................................. 8

Action for human well-being ............................................ 10Improving healthcare ............................................................ 11Improving nutrition................................................................ 14Financial poverty alleviation ................................................. 18Community and social benefits............................................ 21

In conclusion ......................................................................... 24

Annex 1: International processes that link biodiversity and human well-being. .............................................................. 25Annex 2: Main characteristics of botanic gardens.................... 27

Bibliography............................................................................... 28Acronyms................................................................................... 30Acknowledgements ................................................................... 31

Case Studies

Improving healthcareSustainable use of Zingerberaceae for health ...............12Geneva’s links with community medicine in Paraguay ....................................................................12Home gardens in Ghana ................................................13Helping AIDS sufferers in Natal .....................................13Horticultural therapy.......................................................13

Improving nutritionRural resource management in Peru .............................15Healthy Schools Days....................................................16Edible caterpillars in Bas Congo....................................16Improving urban food security in Colombia ..................17Rural home gardens near Lucknow, India .....................17

Financial poverty alleviationHandicrafts and Earth Botanic Garden..........................19Helping farmers in Malabar, India ................................. 20Multiple projects improving livelihoods at Limbe ......... 20

Community & social benefitsBronx Green-Up (BGU) ................................................. 22Training for useful skills in Jerusalem ........................... 23Moroccan women in London........................................ 23Future plans: rehabilitation in Dartmoor Prison ............ 23

Botanic Gardens: Using biodiversity to improve human well-being 3

Contents

Two of the biggest challenges faced byhuman kind are the conservation of ourenvironmental resources and theelimination of poverty. It is increasinglyrecognised that these challenges areinterlinked, so there should be acommitment to tackling them together.

“Biodiversity is the foundation for

human well-being”

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

BGCI believes that Botanic Gardens havean important role to play in this process:this report highlights a range of activitiesthat are using biodiversity to improvehuman well-being.

Biodiversity conservation needs tovalue people

Traditional approaches to conservationoften assumed that nature must beprotected from use by humans. Althoughthis has been useful in some situations, ithas not enabled us to effectively preventthe widespread degradation of our naturalresources. The loss of biodiversitycontinues: tens of thousands of plantspecies are threatened with extinction(IUCN, 2004; Walter & Gillett, 1998) andtoday we are seeing the greatest rate ofspecies extinction in Earth’s history(Wilson, 1992; Millennium EcosystemAssessment, 2005a). It is now generallyrecognised that people are less likely tohave an incentive to conserve naturalresources if they do not appreciate theirvalue (Adams et al., 2004). Conservationwhich takes into account sustainable useis likely to be most effective and avoidnegative impacts on local communities,which in the past has been anunfortunate impact of the “protectionist”approach to conservation (Colchester,2002). If conservation is to succeed, it should take account of human needs.

“Overcoming …environmental problems

will require greater attention to the

plight of the poor”

Millennium Development Goals Report,

2005

Efforts for development need tovalue the environment

Past efforts to alleviate poverty andimprove lives through development havemade only limited progress in achievingtheir objectives, and more than 1 billionpeople continue to subsist on less than$1 a day (UN, 2005). Traditionaldevelopment has also failed to properlyvalue and take account of the vital role ofnatural resources, so our increasingdemands on natural resources pose achallenge for further development, andeven threaten the environment that ourpresent well-being depends on. Forexample, about 350 million of the world’spoorest people directly depend uponforests for all their basic needs, andabout 2,000 million for cooking andfuelwood (World Commission on Forestry

and Sustainable Development, 1999),whilst nearly 10 per cent of all treespecies are threatened with extinctionworldwide (Oldfield et al., 1998). Effortsfor development that value the wise useof natural resources are more likely tocause significant and sustainableimprovements to the lives of the poorestpeople.

“Biodiversity and ecosystem services …

are essential to the well-being and

livelihoods of the poor”

Shoji Nishimoto, Assistant Administrator

and Director, Bureau for Development

Policy, UNDP

The goods and services provided bynatural resources underpin the well-beingof the world’s population and areespecially important for the poorest partsof society, which directly depend on themfor their livelihoods (MillenniumEcosystem Assessment, 2005b).Contemporary thinking increasinglyrecognises that the conservation of ournatural resources is necessary to succeed


Introduction

in improving the well-being of the poor,whilst for conservation to succeed it mustrelate to the poor’s needs. The conceptof balancing progress towards economic,social and environmental goals is nowknown as sustainable development.This has been most famously defined bythe World Commission on Environmentand Development (1987) as“Development that meets the needs ofthe present without compromising theability of future generations to meet theirown needs”.

Linking conservation and poverty reduction – the policy context

The concept of linking natural resourceswith human needs was expressed over 30years ago at the UN Conference on theHuman Environment in Stockholm. Sincethen, the idea has been developed andincorporated by many major internationalpolicies concerned with both poverty andthe environment, and has been mostrecently and prominently emphasised bythe World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in2002. The WSSD plan of implementationcommitted the international community tospecific goals, targets and time-boundmeasures to accelerate the transition tosustainable development (Secretariat ofthe CBD, 2002).

The WSSD’s targets reaffirmed and wentbeyond the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs). These are a set of 16ambitious goals for tackling poverty, withconcrete targets, which were agreed atthe UN Millennium Summit in 2000. Theyrepresent an unprecedented commitmentby the international community to tacklingthe persistent problems of humandeprivation, and recognise theimportance of environmental services forachieving this: one of the goals is to“ensure environmental sustainability”.

“The MDGs will be well served by

increasing the efficiency of natural

resource use… and by conserving natural

resources”

Selim Jahal & Alvaro Umana (2003),

The Environment/Poverty Nexus

WSSD also builds on the objectives ofthe Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD). The CBD was ratified in 1992primarily to reflect concerns forenvironmental degradation, but it alsoexplicitly recognises the importance oftaking into account human needs whenconserving natural resources. The WSSDPlan of Implementation considers theCBD to be the key instrument for theconservation and sustainable use ofbiodiversity, and for the fair and equitablesharing of benefits arising from the use ofgenetic resources.

“Conservation and development are no

longer seen as conflicting goals but as

mutually interdependent”

Secretariat of the Convention on

Biological Diversity

In April 2002 the 187 parties to the CBDagreed the Global Strategy for PlantConservation (GSPC) (Secretariat of theCBD, 2003). This is a key policy for plantconservation, with 16 targets for deliveryby 2010. It explicitly recognises thatplants are an essential resource forhuman well-being. For example,objective c(ii) “support the developmentof livelihoods based on sustainable use ofplants, and promote the fair and equitablesharing of benefits arising from the use ofplant diversity” is supported by specifictargets for sustainable use and theconservation of plant resources.

Many other important policies andprocesses recognise the links betweenbiodiversity conservation and humanwell-being: further details are given inAnnex 1. These many processes areinterpreted for botanic gardens’ policiesand programmes by the InternationalAgenda for Botanic Gardens inConservation (IABGC). This wasdeveloped by BGCI in consultation withthe many relevant parties as a frameworkto guide the work of botanic gardens forconservation and sustainabledevelopment (Wyse Jackson &Sutherland, 2000).

“A fundamental requirement for

sustainable living is to integrate

conservation and development”

Executive Summary, IABGC


What do we mean by “HumanWell-being”?

Although the term “poverty” is oftenassociated with financial deprivation,there are many other aspects beyonda lack of money. These include theprovision of food, healthcare, basicservices and human rights. Someaspects of poverty, such asrestriction of civil or political rights,are not exclusive to low incomegroups or societies. For example,societal problems such as genderinequality remain widespread (e.g.women hold only 16% ofparliamentary seats worldwide).

This study therefore uses the term“human well-being” to encompassthese many aspects of humanwelfare that must be fulfilled in orderto reduce poverty and improve lives.This term is used in the same way bymany organisations, internationalconventions, policies andprogrammes related to biodiversityconservation and development (forexample, the Millennium EcosystemAssessment Programme). Someother policies may use relatedphrases to refer to a similar concept:for example, the MillenniumDevelopment Goals refer to “reducingpoverty and improving lives”.

There are over 2,500 botanic gardens,found in nearly every country across theworld. They are often perceived asplaces for recreation alone, but they arevery much more than that. They areinvolved in many structured activitiesfocused in the fields of horticulture,science, education and conservation.The network of botanic gardens thereforerepresents an enormous and variedrepository of knowledge, expertise andresources. These resources areparticularly relevant to conservation,ethnobotany and our modern uses ofplants. For example, botanic gardens areestimated to keep at least 100,000species as living plants (nearly 30% ofthe world’s plant diversity), and tomaintain 250,000 seed bank accessions(Wyse Jackson, 1999). Many of thesespecies are, or are related to,economically important species.

Botanic gardens play a key role in plantconservation, and their conservationnetwork organisation, Botanic GardensConservation International (BGCI), is theworld’s largest network dedicated to plantconservation. BGCI plays a key role inempowering and supporting botanicgardens to further plant conservation, andin the creation and implementation ofpolicies and targets relevant to this,especially the IABGC and the GSPC.BGCI promotes progress towards all ofthe GSPC’s 16 targets, and is designatedas Lead Facilitating Agent for Target 14,and for Target 8 (in conjunction withIPGRI). BGCI also provides theSecretariat for the Global Partnership forPlant Conservation (GPPC), whichsupports the implementation of the GSPC.

Reflecting society’s priorities

Botanic gardens’ activities have alwaysreflected the needs and values ofsocieties and even our oldest gardensowe their origins to the relationship ofpeople and plants. The first recognisablebotanic gardens were established asteaching and research facilities forphysicians in medieval Europe. WhenEuropean countries began to buildempires in the 18th and 19th centuries,botanic gardens were set up in the newcolonies to serve the needs of theempire. These gardens were used tostudy local plants, and used multi-national connections to introduce anddevelop useful plants from other regions,and so have been instrumental in theestablishment of cash crops andagricultural industries that still dominatethese countries. For example, the RoyalBotanic Garden, Calcutta (now IndianBotanic Garden) first tested andintroduced tea to India (Nayar, 1987) andother gardens played key roles in theintroduction of tea, coffee, Cinchona andtimber crops. Botanic gardens alsoreflected a fascination with documenting


The role of botanic gardens

What makes a botanic garden?

There are over 2,500 botanicgardens, in nearly all countries andecosystems. These gardens have awide range of purposes, structures,and activities. However, it isgenerally agreed that botanicgardens should have a scientificbasis for one or more aspects oftheir work: they are more than publicparks. This is reflected in the recentdefinition used by BGCI (WyseJackson, 1999):

A botanic garden is an institutionholding documented collections ofliving plants for the purposes ofscientific research, conservation,display and education.

This definition is not exhaustive:Botanic gardens are also involved inactivities that use biodiversity topromote human well-being. For further details on botanic gardencharacteristics and activities see Annex 2.

and sorting the expanding collections ofplant species being discovered, andbegan to play a key role in planttaxonomy research.

After two world wars and the dissolutionof empires, the diversity of purposes andactivities expanded to reflect the rapidlychanging societies: in the Soviet Uniongardens were established to developplant varieties and uses that were ofpractical benefit to society, whilst someother gardens focused on non-appliedresearch, and others on amenity values.Today, many gardens are focused onresearch for conservation and economicbotany, for commercial and local benefits.Education on these subjects is alsoimportant. When the conservation ofbiodiversity began to emerge as aconcern in the middle of the last century,the resources of botanic gardens wererecognised to have valuable potential forex situ conservation, by acting as gene-banks for useful and endangered plants(Huxley, 1984). As ideas aboutconservation began to develop beyondthe traditional protectionist paradigm, therole of botanic garden resources hasadapted, and the IABGC emphasises thatbotanic gardens are now focused onsustainability and the modernconservation agenda.

Mission for well-being

The use of biodiversity for human well-being is an explicit influence on botanicgarden policies at all levels and in alllocations. For example, in 2003participants at the first conference of

Indian botanic gardens emphasised theimportance of medicinal plants forprimary healthcare, and their commitmentto supporting sustainable livelihoods(NBRI, 2003). The output of thisconference, the Lucknow Statement onBotanic Gardens of India, stressed “thefundamental importance of plants as thebasis for all life on Earth and as anessential resource for human well-being”.

Individual botanic gardens also havegoals that are related to improving humanwell-being. For example, the principles ofsustainable development expressedduring the 1992 Rio conference directly

informed the creation and aims of theBotanic Garden “ORSTOM” in theDemocratic Republic of Congo (Mombeki,2004). This garden researchesdomestication to provide useful speciesfor cultivation, that allow localcommunities to more easily meet theirfood and healthcare needs, whilstprotecting forests that would otherwisebe destroyed in attempts to meet theseneeds. On the other side of the worldEarth Ethnobotanic Garden, (at EarthUniversity, Costa Rica) focuses on theconservation of medicinal plants,investigates the potential uses of plants,and communicates this information tolocal communities (Earth UniversityFoundation, 2001), which reflects the aimof the whole university to balance“environmental awareness” and “socialcommitment” (Earth University, 2001).

Many activities of gardens are linked withaims to contribute to human well-being.Although some of these activities, suchas education or research, may not appearto benefit human lives directly theirfundamental importance cannot beoverstated.

Education

Education is a key component of anyproject that wishes to inform and enablepeople to improve their lives. Forexample, in Uganda, Makere UniversityBotanic Garden used lectures anddemonstrations to educate women andchildrens groups in the usefulness ofcertain plants species: these groups have


“People-Plant” Origins

The Botanical Garden of Padua wasfounded in 1545 and is one of theoldest botanical gardens in the world. It was created by the Vatican Republicfor the cultivation of medicinal herbs.The institution enabled students to usethe garden to learn how to distinguishand use true medicinal herbs, whichgreatly improved the reliability of localhealthcare. Similarly, the ChelseaPhysic Garden was founded in Englandin 1673 by the Worshipful Society ofApothecaries, to train apprentices toidentify plants, and to help in thecultivation of exotic plants for medicine.

Other gardens have been stronglyidentified with other plant uses. Forexample, the Centre for Economic

Botany at Royal Botanic Gardens Kewwas founded in 1847 by the first officialdirector, to “render great service, notonly to the scientific botanist, but also tothe merchant, the manufacturer, thephysician, the chemist, the druggist, thedyer, the carpenter and the cabinetmaker and artisans of every description”.

A more recent example is KadoorieFarm and Botanic Garden establishedin Hong Kong in the 1950s to provideagricultural aid to poor local farmers.There are currently community botanicgardens being set up around the worldthat are focused on addressing localneeds.

For more information about thesegardens please visit the BGCI GardenSearch database at www.bgci.org.

now set up tree and herbal nurseries tocultivate useful species, especially thosethat take a long time to reach maturityand those with multiple uses (C.Kiwuka,pers.comm.). Every project described inthis report uses at least one (and usuallyseveral) methods of communication totransfer knowledge and skills tocommunity members: from formal

lectures and booklets, to workshops and‘hands-on’ training. These rely on theeducational capabilities of botanicgardens, which have been broadenedover the last couple of decades inresponse to international processes, andnow are ideally placed to play a uniquerole in education for conservation andsustainable development (Willison, 2004).

It is important that educators in botanicgardens are given the training andresources needed to communicateeffectively the information and skills thatcan enhance the use of plants for well-being.

Research

Research and investigation into plantsprovide the knowledge for improvinglives. Many gardens have a strongemphasis on research relevant to thedevelopment of useful plants, especiallyin the fields of agriculture and healthcare.

This research is often related todomestication and crop development: forexample, Wuhan Botanical Garden inChina has bred 10 new cultivars of kiwi(Actinidia spp.), and also developed localmedicines such as “Yikanjiaolong”(Z.Cheng, survey response). Otherresearch is focused on developinghealthcare: for example the KomarovBotanical Institute of the RussianAcademy of Sciences searches for plantspecies with antiviral or anti-microbeactivities, hepato-protectors, andimmuno-modulators or anti-tumourproperties (Tkachenko et al., 1997).Similar activites are carried out across theworld: examples include the CearáBotanical Park in Brazil, the ResearchInstitute of Medicinal Plants in Poland,and the Guangxi Botanical Garden ofMedicinal Plants in China. Othergardens, such as Botanic Garden“Fundación Xochitla” in Mexico, focus oncultivating and developing local plantswith potential as ornamentals, whilst


Green Youth Farm

Chicago Botanic Garden has acommunity gardening department thathas helped more than 300 school andcommunity groups transform theirneighbourhoods with gardens andgreen spaces. The Green Youth Farmprogramme selects youths from thedeprived North Lawnsdale andWaukegan communities, where 50-98% are on low incomes, the majorityare from ethnic minorities, and theschool drop out rate is over 27%. This programme teaches them aboutcrop sciences but is also important fortheir personal development.

There is an interdisciplinary style ofteaching, which includes musiclessons, cooking classes, artworkshops, and leadershipdevelopment. It helps students tounderstand themselves, andencourages them to develop a “cando” attitude. It also helps them tounderstand nutrition, and food policyissues: many students have gone ontocampaign for better social justice, suchas better food at a local homelessshelter.

Source: Mason & Benveniste (2006).

gardens in northern regions focus onfinding varieties of useful plants that canwithstand the harsh climate (L.MartínezGonzález, survey response).

Much research provides information thatcan be directly used by local people toimprove their livelihoods. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Botanic Garden “ORSTOM” isdomesticating species that are locallyuseful, such as a fodder plant that issuitable for local planting, and that willhelp improve the nitrogen content ofpasture (S.Mombeki, survey response).Similarly, Kisantu Botanic Garden in theDemocratic Republic of Congo hasconducted trials on the popular fruitmangosteen, to enable local farmers toextend the shelf-life of the harvested fruit,and so reach a larger market (KibunguKemelo, 2004). Other botanic gardensperform research that has directimplications for more distantcommunities: the Botanical andExperimental Garden of RadboudUniversity in the Netherlands investigatesthe properties of its African Solanumaccessions (including taxonomy,morphology, nutritional qualities andalkaloid qualities) to provide anunambiguous and comprehensive guideto ‘safe to eat’ nightshades that alsosatisfies consumer taste preferences(G.van der Weerden, survey response).Research can also have implications for

local healthcare. For example, in Senegalthe Garden for Useful PlantExperimentation (JEPU) is inventorying,cultivating and evaluating traditionalmedicinal plants and their managementsystems, to establish a system ofmedicine that is sustainable and meetslocal needs (M.Lo, survey response).

There are many more examples ofresearch that supports human well-being,both past and present. It is crucial thatthis research is not only sustained but theresults actively used in practical projectsto support well-being.


Scouting for native plants inBuenos Aires

Pillahuinco Botanic Garden inArgentina scouts for native plantswith ornamental value, prioritises the'top 10' plants (including speciessuch as Pavonia cymablaria andGrindelia ventanensis), and subjectsthe plants to research projects todetermine their optimal propagationand cultivation conditions.

The garden teaches the local peopleabout the ornamental value of nativeplants and the different techniquesneeded for their successfulcultivation. It also trains the localpopulation in field identification andthe general importance ofbiodiversity conservation of the areaby emphasizing natural environmentsand ecological services. Thisongoing project has been partlysupported by BGCI.

The importance of partnership

The success of many projects ispromoted by appropriate collaborationbetween institutions that havecomplementary resources. This is welldemonstrated by botanic gardens, andmany projects featured in this reportinvolve the partnership of gardens withlocal authorities, NGOs and health-careagencies. Collaboration and partnershipcan be particularly important forresearch. For example, in the USA theBotanic Garden of Smith College hascollaborated with the government andpharmaceutical industry to use its largecollection of yews (Taxus spp.) forresearch into Taxol. This compound isfound in yew bark and leaves and is ofglobal importance for healthcare due toits significant and unique anti-tumourproperties.

In South Africa, Kirstenbosch BotanicGarden has been one of severalinstitutions that have contributed toresearch on the smoke germinationand propagation of Cyclopia spp.,whose leaves and flowers are used tomake a popular drink called Honeybush tea. The results of this body ofresearch have allowed the bush to becultivated with relative ease, somaterial that was traditionally wildcollected is now cultivated by over 40communities in impoverished areaswhere there was previously noagriculture.

Sources: Botanic Garden of SmithCollege (2005), de Lange (1997), van Wyke (2002).

The following pages illustrate howbotanic gardens use their resources tolink biodiversity with improvements tohuman well-being. The examples arederived from an extensive literaturereview, and the information obtained fromquestionnaires received from botanicgardens as part of multi-lingual survey ofBGCI members worldwide. It has not been possible to include allexamples within this report, but adatabase of case studies can be foundon the BGCI website, at www.bgci.org/wellbeing.

The many policies relevant to this subjectcategorise aspects of human well-beingin slightly differently ways (Bass et al.,2005). For example, the World Bankdiscusses “dimensions of poverty” suchas lack of education or lack of access toservices (e.g. Alsop, 2005; The WorldBank Group, 2006), but othercommentaries suggest aspects related tohuman rights should be as important asmore material concerns (e.g. Kanburi &Squire, 1999; Satterthwaite, 2003). Wehave categorised human well-being intofour aspects that can be easily related toother schemes: (1) improving nutrition, (2)improving healthcare, (3) financial povertyalleviation (providing opportunities for

income generation and improvingfinancial security), (4) social andcommunity benefits, (the non-materialbenefits that make significantcontributions to our quality of life). BGCIbelieves that the international network ofbotanic gardens can make a significantcontribution to all these aspects of well-being, so should play a key role in theglobal community’s efforts to achieve thegoals of the modern conservation andsustainable development agenda.

“Biodiversity can indeed help alleviate

hunger and poverty, can promote human

health, and be the basis for ensuring

freedom and equity for all”

Statement by the heads of the five

biodiversity related conventions, “Life

Insurance for our Changing World”

September 2005


Action for human well-being

Most of the world’s population suffersfrom inadequate access to health care:for example, every year nearly 11 millionchildren die before their fifth birthday, andhalf a million women die in childbirth (UN,2005).

The protection and maintenance of humanhealth is strongly dependent upon plantproducts and their derivatives. Themajority of the world’s population lacksaccess to conventional western medicineand depends upon plants for primaryhealthcare (Hamilton, 2004; Heywood,1999). It is estimated that 80% of theworld’s population depends directly onplant based medicines (WHO, 2003) andthe trade in medicinal plants is estimatedto be worth about $60 million per year inSouth Africa alone (Roe et al., 2002).However, continued access to this globalresource is threatened by environmentaldegradation and unsustainable collecting.Botanic gardens can play an importantrole, by empowering communities tosafeguard and improve access to plantsused in healthcare.

“Human health is strongly linked to

the health of ecosystems, which meet

many of our most critical needs”

Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department

for Protection of the Human Environment

Botanic gardens’ projects often involvegarden staff demonstrating uses of plantsfor healthcare, and enabling communitiesto cultivate such plants. The NaturePalace Botanic Garden in Uganda, forexample, works with households in alocal community-based conservation anddevelopment group. Participants havelearnt about the cultivation andconservation of medicinal plants throughworkshops, field demonstrations, modelfarms and leaflets. They havesubsequently gone on to set up individualgardens for medicinal plant cultivation,and are also planning a communal gardenfor this purpose (D. Nkwanga Kintu,

survey response). Gardens often workclosely with local healthcare institutionsto ensure local needs are met. Forexample, in South Africa, Garden RouteBotanical Garden works with local peopleto facilitate their access to and use ofmedicinal plants: this project was startedat the instigation of the Kynsna MunicipalHealthcare clinic, to help them managedemand for their services (Y. van Wijk,survey response).

Careful planning and multidisciplinarythinking can help to ensure projectsrealise their potential. This isdemonstrated by a project to promote theuse of plants for self-sufficiency in basichealthcare, run by the Tropical BotanicGarden & Research Institute (TBGRI) inKerala, India. Pushpangadan (1998)describes how the healthcare needs andsocio-economic situation of four villagesin the Thiruvananthapuram District werecarefully examined by a TBGRI team thatincluded botanists, Ayurvedic experts andsociologists. This team then worked withvillagers to deliver a combination oflectures, seminars, demonstrations,practical training and plant supplies thatenabled villagers to identify and cultivatehealthcare plants. The TBGRI team alsotrained villagers in the preparation ofcompound drugs for home remedies totreat problems such as burns, wounds,sprains and diarrhoea. This project wasso successful that other villagesrequested to become involved, andeventually over 800 families were helped.

Healthcare concerns may be quite differentin developed countries. For example,Kärten Botanical Garden in Austria runslectures and school projects based arounddrug plants, to educate children about therealities and dangers of drug abuse(R.Eberwein, survey response). Botanicgardens in developed countries have alsobeen instrumental in developing the widelyrecognised psychological treatment“Horticultural Therapy”. This is practiced in

gardens from Irkustsk, Russia to Cleveland,USA (V.Kuzevanov, B.Holley, surveyresponse). Although it is a less obviousapplication of plants and botanic gardens,it is potentially of great importance, as 25%of individuals will develop mental disordersduring their life (WHO, 2001). This exampleclearly demonstrates the need for us toconsider the full potential of plants fortackling the spectrum of healthcare issues,so that plant resources can be used mosteffectively.

Many gardens in developed countrieshave formed partnerships with institutionsin other countries, to assist people in lessdeveloped countries. A good example ofthis is provided by the many projects inwhich the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew isinvolved. These include a project inUganda to develop the use of plants totackle HIV/AIDS, and a project to useplants to tackle tuberculosis in SouthAfrica (M.Simmonds, survey response).These projects allow expertise to beshared across countries and cultures: sofor example, staff from Geneva BotanicGarden exchange information withParaguay counterparts, some of whomthen contribute to similar projects inBolivia (R.Didier, survey response). The partnerships and collaborationsinvolved in these projects can also buildregional institutional capacity for futureself-management of activities forenvironmentally sound development andenvironmental education.


Improving healthcare

Sustainable use ofZingiberaceae for health

Calicut UniversityBotanic Garden, inthe south Indianstate of Kerala, isworking to improvethe livelihoods oflocal poor people,with support fromBGCI. This projectaims to conserveIndianZingiberaceae, oneof the most

economically important families ofmonocotyledons. It has involvedsupport to local livelihoods, throughempowering women in thesustainable use of their local naturalresources, and also ex situmeasures, such as enhancing thenumber of ginger species held ingermplasm collections.

Housewives from low incomesgroups participated in workshopsand training programmes that weredesigned to enable them to useplant resources to improve theirhealth care and financial situation.For example, the women wereinformed about the potential of homegardens, and trained in nurserydevelopment, maintenance andmanagement, and were providedwith saplings of plants withmedicinal uses, for cultivation.

Women were also given training onthe extraction of Travancore starchfrom the rhizomes of wild turmeric(Curcuma aeruginosa), which growsabundantly in the area as a wildherb. This member of the gingerfamily has a tradition of usestretching back thousands of years.The starch is used in health drinksand Ayurvedic medicines: forexample, hot water extracts of thedried rhizome can be taken orally toreduce inflammation, and it is alsoclassified as a ‘rasayana’ herb, andused to counteract ageingprocesses. Its products are normallyquite expensive, so women whocollect it from the wild have theopportunity to significantly improvetheir incomes.

Source: M.Sabu (survey response).


Geneva’s links with communitymedicine in Paraguay

Since 1996 “Projet EtnobotanicaParaguaya” (EPY) has been run in thetown of Asunción, Paraguay, toimprove local standards of livingthrough the use of plants, by theConservatory and Botanic Gardens ofGeneva, Switzerland in collaborationwith Ascunción’s Centre forConservation and EnvironmentalEducation (CCEAM). In the first phaseof EPY, the use of more than 400species of plants sold in local marketswas recorded and evaluated, and amedicinal plant garden was created inthe Asunción Botanic Garden to holdspecimens. The data collectedincluded the toxicity, chemicalcomposition and taxonomy of themedicinal plants (called “poha ñana” in the local guarani language).

This information was used to makebooklets and videos, and then used intargeted education campaigns in 25local rural communities, incollaboration with the Red Cross, toencourage appropriate use andprotection of medicinal plants. Thecollaboration of the EPY and “TesaiReka Paraguay” (a coalition of 12country-based organisations workingfor community health in EasternParaguay) created project “PohaÑana”. This project used local

workshops and the resources ofAsuncion Botanic Garden to train andsupport more than 20 promoter-gardeners who created and maintainedcommunity medicinal gardens withintheir respective rural communities.Ongoing work is investigating themarket potential for several herbs, andthe best application of the plants fortackling specific local diseases, suchas malaria and leishmaniosis.

Source: Gaona (2002), Pinazzo (2002).


Home gardens in Ghana

Wild plants are essential for primaryhealthcare in Ghana as 70-80% of thepopulation cannot access hospitals orafford conventional medicines, and sorely on wild sourced medicinal plantsinstead. However, this resource is injeopardy. Communities find itincreasingly hard to source theirmedicinal plants, and practitionersmust travel ever greater distances tofind them.

Aburi Botanical Garden receivedDarwin funding to work on a projectto respond to this situation, inpartnership with BGCI, the UNEPWorld Conservation MonitoringCentre, Royal Botanic GardenEdinburgh and the University ofGhana. This project aimed toimprove communities' access tomedicinal plants, and to encouragetheir sustainable use. It set up a 50acre model Medicinal Plant Garden,based on community ethno-botanicalsurveys, which was planted with1,361 medicinal plant seedlings, andalso set up a plant nursery to hold5,000 medicinal plant seedlings.

This garden is used to supportlectures, seminars and workshops forherbalists on how to propagate andcultivate medicinal plants, toencourage stakeholder interaction,and to encourage communities to setup their own nurseries and first aidgardens. The community is involvedin their management through anadvisory committee.

These activities have beenaccompanied by the publication oftwo manuals on medicinal plants: oneon harvesting, preparation andstorage, and the other onpropagation. Aburi also providescommunities with seedlings (over 2million to date), and is involved incomplementary activities, such as theenhancement of schools, churchyards, towns and villages, promotionof some traditional medicinal plantmanagement systems, and themanagement of protected areas.

Sources: G.Owusu-Afriyie (surveyresponse), Amponsah et al. (2002),Gillett (2002), Damanka & Ofosuhene-Djan (2001).

Helping AIDS sufferers inNatal

AIDS is a major challenge for societiesin sub-Saharan Africa. Locally theproblem is being tackled by NatalNational Botanic Garden (part ofSANBI, the South Africa NationalBiodiversity Institute), which isinvolved in a project to provide freehealthcare support to AIDS sufferers.This is run in association with CINDI, a local consortium of NGOs,government departments andindividuals that work for childrenaffected by HIV/AIDS.

As part of this project, a local primaryhealthcare centre is provided with afree supply of helpful medicinal plants,which residents can then take to plantin their own gardens, and use to self-treat. Complementing this, medicinalplants posters have been developedthat show care givers and AIDSsufferers how to use two indigenousplants Bulbine and Carpobrotus (sourfig) to treat skin conditions and thrushthat are commonly associated withHIV/AIDS. In addition, a nutritionalplants poster is being developed, toencourage the use of yellow fleshsweet potatoes and brightly colouredvegetables that are rich in vitamins inorder to boost the immune systems ofAIDS sufferers.

These resources are of significantbenefit to people who cannot affordconventional medicine, who can now self-treat some of the commonskin ailments associated with AIDSfor free.

Source: J.Roff (survey response).

Horticultural therapy

Horticultural therapy is the processof using gardening activities, plants,and horticultural techniques as apsychological and physical therapy.Botanic gardens have been pioneersin developing and promoting this.The Royal Botanic Gardens Hamiltonin Canada ran the first programme toteach this to Canadian therapists.This programme has now beenrunning 37 years. In 1977, theOntario Ministry of Health studiedthis programme to assess theeffectiveness of the technique, andin 1980 the garden was a keyfounder of what is now the CanadianHorticultural Therapy Association.Horticultural Therapy is now widelyaccepted and is taught by manycolleges in the region. Hamilton isnot the only garden to havepioneered the technique: the NewYork Botanical Garden (NYBG) hasalso long offered certificateprogrammes in horticultural therapy.

Horticultural therapy is now widelyrecognised as an important tool fortherapists, with much evidence thatit is an effective treatment for variousdisorders such as Attention DeficientDisorder and many textbooks on thesubject are available. It is widelytaught to therapists as a tool forsocial development, psychologicalwell-being and physicalrehabilitation, and is commonlyapplied in medical and socialinstitutions such as hospitals andcorrectional facilities.

Sources: D. Galbraith (pers.comm.),Park et al. (2004), Kuo & Sullivan(2001), Taylor et al. (2001) Frazel(1991), Simson & Strauss (1997).

It is obvious that human well-beingdepends upon a food supply that reliesupon plant products. Plant diversity alsosupports the functioning of thesupporting ecosystems, and providesgenetic resources that can improve cropqualities such as disease resistance,productivity or adaptation to localconditions.

“There are close causal linkages

between reducing hunger and

sustainable management of natural

resources and ecosystems”

FAO, 2005

A significant proportion of the world’spopulation do not have an adequate diet:the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment(2005b) estimates that 852 million peoplewere undernourished between 2000 and2002, whilst per capita food productiondeclined in sub-Saharan Africa. Thissource also projects that demand forfood crops could increase 85% by 2050.To meet these human needs, we muststrive to ensure plant diversity issustained and efficiently used to providediets that are sufficient, secure anddiverse.

Many botanic gardens are involved inprojects that improve the nutrition of localpoor communities. These projects ofteninvolve enabling people to cultivate theirown food plants in home gardens, byeducating them about useful plants andtheir cultivation, demonstrating thetechniques of cultivation, and supportingthe establishment of community gardenswith the botanic garden’s resources andongoing advice. Promoting homegardens is not the only way that botanicgardens can improve nutrition (asillustrated by the Bas Congo case study)but it is generally a very useful approachwhich is appropriate for helping both therural and urban poor. Quite obviously,projects that encourage good nutritionbenefit health. In addition, projects for

home gardens can easily encouragedirect improvements in both food andhealthcare through the appropriatecombination of plantings, asdemonstrated by gardens set up nearLucknow, India.

Promoting home gardens is especiallyeffective when supported by the resultsof research and development that havefocused on local needs. For example,Skeffington (2006) describes how theNational Botanic Garden of Cuba worksto improve the diets and self-sufficiencyof Cubans. In addition to interpretativematerials and education about the valueof cultivating a diverse selection oforganic plants, it runs a fruit tree projectto experimentally develop species andvarieties of tropical fruit trees for theHavana climate and soils (there are over35 varieties of mango alone, all thecommon citrus fruits and many other lesscommon species). As a result, it is ableto advise on planting appropriate forCubans with only small gardens or backyards (and its own orchards producetonnes of fruit!).

Projects within more developed countrieshave to tackle the problem of unhealthydiets that provide too many calories.Innovative and diverse techniques areused in gardens’ attempts to use theirresources to promote healthier diets. Forexample, Adkins Arboretum in Maryland,USA hosts guided outdoor walks followedby a healthy meal and a nutritionist’s talk,which link observations from the walk (e.g.autumnal leaf colour) with ideas aboutfood (e.g. brightly coloured vegetables arehealthiest) (S.Kaufman, survey response).Efforts for education about healthy eatingare often directed towards children, oftenwith tangible results. For example,Auckland’s Pacific Island Community hasone of the highest rates of obesity anddiabetes in New Zealand. For the lastthree years, staff from Auckland BotanicGarden, in partnership with the publichealth service, have been teaching earlychildhood teachers how to grow healthyand nutritious food. This has resulted insustainable food gardens, and a “five-plusa day” campaign to promote theconsumption of fruit and vegetables(Benham, 2005).


Improving nutrition

Rural resource management inPeru

The Yanesha are an indigenous groupof the headlands of the Amazon, inSelva Central, Peru. They suffer fromextreme poverty and their efforts tomeet their basic needs are degradingthe forest. The Centre for Conservationand Sustainable Development (CSSD)at Missouri Botanical Garden iscollaborating with three Yaneshacommunities, to help them to betterunderstand and manage their naturalresources, as well as improving theirnutrition.

The project has established vegetablegardens where school children andteachers collaborate with the CSSD toexperiment with vegetables that are notknown to the Yanesha, and to promotethe inclusion of more vegetables intothe diet. They work before and afterschool to help cultivate the gardens.There is also an experimental fruit treenursery run within the community,where trees not known to the area are

introduced. When these trees areready for transplant they are thenplanted in the small parcels of land thatthe local families have adjacent to theirhouses.

The CSSD conducts extensiveenvironmental education programmesthat not only encourage environmentalappreciation but teach practical waysto sustainably manage naturalresources, and to cultivate crops. It isalso helping the Yanesha to form anEnvironmental Technical Unit that will


help them manage their communitylands and the threats to their reserve.The Yanesha and the CSSD worktogether to review the programme’sactivities and identify future needs.Future plans include helping theYanesha develop sustainableproduction activities that will providesupplemental sources of income, andreduce harvesting of wild flora andfauna.

Sources: O.Montiel (pers.comm.)


Healthy Schools Days

Over half of the UK population isoverweight. Obesity is associated withmany diseases which have a significantimpact on quality of life, whilstmalnutrition alone costs the UK morethan £7.3 billion per year. This islargely due to poorly balanced dietswhich do not include enough fruit andvegetables. The obesity rate isgrowing particularly fast in children,and so the gardens at RHS Wisleyhave designed special activities totackle this. School children visit thegarden for a whole day, where theytake part in three sessions:

Session 1. Exploring the World of Fruitand Vegetables. This takes thechildren out into the gardens of Wisley,to pick and try some salad leaves, andto give them a tour of the fruit growingarea (many children do not know where their food comes from). The children then play a vegetable

Edible caterpillars in Bas Congo

Throughout Africa, wherever they areeaten, caterpillars are considered aluxury food, and they areopportunistically harvested by mostpeople. As caterpillars are high inprotein, they are also practicallyimportant: caterpillar meat has beenestimated to contribute 40% of thetotal protein consumed in the BasCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo. However, caterpillars arebecoming scarce in some areas, andmay not be easily obtained, as bushfires become more frequent, andprotective traditions are ignored. For example, if caterpillars were in treebranches too high to reach, it wastraditional to leave them there, butincreasingly the branches are cutdown.

The Kisantu Botanic Garden in BasCongo was involved in a ruraldevelopment project run by theSalvation Army at Kasangulu, BasCongo. One of the project aims was toconserve and increase the number ofedible caterpillars available to localpeople in several villages. The projectresearched the lifecycles of thecaterpillars, the plants they feed on, andthe best way to protect them. TheNational Botanic Garden of Belgiumwas also involved, and helped toprepare and store herbarium specimensof the caterpillars’ food plants.

As a result of the project, severalvillages were able to safeguard andimprove their access to the valuablecaterpillar resources, whilst thecaterpillar food plants were protected.A reference manual was published inthe local Kitandu dialect of Kicongowhich clearly illustrated both the ediblecaterpillars and their food plants, andhow to conserve them. For example,appropriate food trees could be plantednear houses. The project alsoencouraged respect for the traditionswhich had previously safeguarded thecaterpillars. Other activities of theoverall rural development project werefound to complement the caterpillarwork: for example, keeping bees in thelocality of the caterpillar plants wasrecommended to help to detercaterpillar over-harvest!

Sources: Gracia & Latham (2003),Latham (1999).

recognition game and learn some“weird and wonderful” facts aboutvegetables.

Session 2. A community chef showsthe children how to cook vegetablesuper noodles and then helps thechildren made their own fruit kebabs.

Session 3. A Public Health Dietician(from the local unit of the NationalHealth Service) works with the childrento educate them about nutrition, anduses games to show how food is goodfor us and why a balanced diet isimportant.

Source: J.Chave (survey response).


Improving urban food securityin Colombia

Nearly 60% of the urban populationof Bogotá, Colombia, live below thepoverty line. This situation wastackled by a two year initative by theBogotá Botanic Garden “JoséCalestino Mutis” which involvedbotanic garden staff working withdeprived local communities to teachthem how to grow plants for food.

The results of this initiative were sosuccessful that that the President ofColombia and the mayor of Bogotáare supporting a similarly themed$500,000 project by the ColombianBotanic Gardens Network. Thisproject aims to help 6,000 poorurban families in the “CuidadBolivar” suburb to cultivate foodplants in home gardens andcommunity areas. Self-cultivationwill improve food security for thesefamilies, and contribute to povertyalleviation.

Source: BGCI (2005a).

Rural home gardens nearLucknow, India

Improving nutrition and healthcare ofthe rural population was targeted by aproject by National Botanical ResearchInstitute (NBRI) in Lucknow, supportedby Indian government’s Department ofScience & Technology. NBRI’s Eco-education division set up a homegardens project in a village called AmolKalla Paschim, near Lucknow, whichwas especially selected for its highlevel of deprivation and poverty.

The activities of the project focused onwomen from poor or lower castebackgrounds. After collecting baselinedata on the village, its society and itsnatural resources, the NBRI projectteam started awareness campaigns onsustainable resource use. Twenty-fiveSelf-Help Groups (SHGs) of five to sixwomen were formed, and eachprovided with an education kit. Thiscontained booklets on the nutritionalvalue of vegetables, information onhow to grow vegetables, and usefulstationery items. SHG members alsoreceived demonstrations andinteractive training on plant cultivationpractices such as composting andmedicinal plant identification, and wereencouraged to visit NBRI’s modelhome garden and herbal garden.There was also encouragement for men

to assist their wives in agriculturalpractices, and help in cleaning upvillage water.

This project resulted in a model homegarden developed by each SHG, andall the SHG members benefiting frompracticing the home gardentechniques. Vegetables grown wereconsumed in the home, and somesold, whilst the seeds provided forfuture harvests. Some groups alsodeveloped gardens for health care:whilst others cultivated aquatic crops:each members of five SHGs earned1,800 rupees. This project was sosuccessful that it may be used as amodel for projects in other locations.

Sources: Kulshreshtha (2005), NBRI(2005).


Plants support livelihoods and provideincomes for millions of people around theworld. For example, 22% of the world’spopulation (and 46% of the total labourforce) are employed in agriculture alone(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment,2005c), timber is one of the world’s maincommodities (ITTO, 2004), and the tradein medicinal plants grows every year(Hamilton, 2004). Even in developedcountries the direct financial benefits arehuge. In the USA, the Center for PlantConservation studied the economicpotential of the 3,214 rare US plants, andfound that more than 80% were directlyused or had economically useful closerelatives, and were worth nearly $10billion per year (Philips & Meilleur, 1995).

Unfortunately, overall progress towardsimproving this aspect of well-being isvery slow: in some parts of the world thenumber of poor is still rising, and the gap

between rich and poor is widening (UN,2005). Environmental degradation mayworsen this situation, as it threatensexisting livelihoods that depend uponnatural resources (Millennium EcosystemAssessment, 2005c). It is thereforeimperative that we better realise thepotential of plants to support livelihoods,and safeguard this resource for presentand future generations.

“Win-win” solutions exist for both the

environment and the poor”

UNDP Poverty Report, 2000

The expertise and resources of botanicgardens are well placed to use plants toimprove incomes and support thefinancial security of poor people. Thiscan sometimes involve the use of theirown plants to directly support localincome generation: for example,Peninsular Khao Chong botanic garden in

Thailand allows local people to harvest itsbamboo to make chopsticks, which is amore convenient and sustainable sourcefor harvesters than wild-harvesting(V.Chamchumroon, survey response).

Botanic gardens are most often able tocontribute to income generation byeducating and empowering local peoplein how to use plants to make usefulproducts that can be sold. These plantsproducts are often related to healthcare.For example, Przelewice Arboretum inPoland runs a training programme“Frauenhände bringen Geld” to teachunemployed women how to producenatural soaps and cultivate plants forheathcare, and supports this practicalknowledge with talks on management bythe tax and labour offices (K.Misiak,survey response). Other projectsencourage the use of plants for makinghandicrafts. For example, the work oflocal crafts-people was promoted duringevents for the project “Education forConservation of the Caatinga” run by theBotanic Garden of the Belo HorizonteZoobotanic Foundation in Brazil(Andrade, 2004).

The resources of Botanic Gardens canalso be relevant to improving this aspectof well-being in very distant communities,usually through working with local

Financial poverty alleviation


organisations in less developed countries.For example, the botanic gardens of theTrento Natural History Museum, Italy, arepart of a project near the Uzwanga ScarpForest Reserve in Tanzania, in partnershipwith Tanzanian NGOs, forestry and parkauthorities and local authorities. Thisproject “Watu na Msitu” (People andForest) consists of environmentaleducation activites, micro-projects forincome-generation alternatives to forestexploitation, the establishment ofcommunity tree nurseries, and eco-tourism (C. Bonomi, survey response).

Botanic gardens currently run relativelyfew projects that contribute to this aspectof well-being compared to the work theydo for improving healthcare and nutrition.However, they have the potential to makegreater contributions on this topic. Inaddition, they receive so many visitorsthat they could support many morelivelihoods through sale of products thatdirectly benefit poor people. Forexample, the shop within PrzelewiceArboretum sells the products of 15women from its “Frauenhände bringenGeld” programme. Similarly, OaxacaEthnobotanical garden in Mexico sells thework of local artisans who use certifiedsustainable timber to carve “alebrijes” -fantastic animals and other figures madeout of Bursera wood and painted in verybright colours, which are very popularwith tourists (A. de Ávila, pers.comm.).

Handicrafts and Earth BotanicGarden

Earth Botanic Garden, at EarthUniversity in Costa Rica, is running a course to teach students and localpeople on the many different uses oftheir surrounding biodiversity, andhow they can use natural productsto earn an income. The productsdeveloped include soaps, drinks,teas, shampoos, creams, ointments,agricultural insecticides, and dyes.

At the end of the course studentsgain a qualification, and can usetheir skills to make useful productsfor personal consumption. Manypeople also go on to sell theseproducts, and some micro-companies have been set up topromote the use of tropical plants formedicine. This project is a long terminitiative developed by the botanicgarden and the university’s students,which contributes to its strategicaim.

Source: (J.Portuguez, survey response)

Multiple projects improvinglivelihoods at Limbe

Limbe Botanic Garden (LBG) inCameroon runs many activities linkingbiodiversity research and development.Since 1992 Limbe has run aprogramme to domesticate some localornamental species, such asClerodendrum thomsonii, with the aimof developing low technologycultivation techniques to transfer tolocal communities for the cultivation ofcut flowers with high value. It also runsa project to provide fuel wood forcommunities through nurseries that aretended by women, which improves thelivelihoods and status of women, aswell as ensuring sustainable fuelsupplies. In 1994 the Mount CameroonProject (MCP) was established here tofocus specifically on the conservationof biodiversity and livelihoodimprovement for rural communities inthe region.

LBG has a ‘Conservation throughCultivation’ programme that works forthe conservation of threatened usefulwild species. It has long been involvedwith promoting ex situ cultivation ofEru, to reduce pressure on wild stockand to improve the livelihoods of ruralfarmers through the sale andconsumption of the vegetable. Eru (Gnetum africanum andG.buchholzianum) is a climbingrainforest vine of West and CentralAfrica that is used as a highly pricedvegetable but is threatened by the

excessive pressures of wild-harvesting.Its protein content is high, so it can playan important role in preventingmalnutrition, and it is also thought tohave medicinal qualities. It is locallypopular within Cameroon, and tonnesof it is also regularly exported to Nigeriaand beyond, which supports theemployment of thousands of people.

LBG developed domesticationtechniques for inclusion in local agro-forestry systems, using trial plots andgene banks. It then went on to trainrelevant community members usingtheoretical and practical techniquesstarting at the Bimbia Bonadikomboarea, and books were printed forliterate farmers.

LBG maintains strong link with thefarmers who are involved in thecultivation of the crop, which helpswith further research into itsdomestication. Institutionalpartnerships also help it to understandand spread knowledge about Eru. Forexample, the garden has worked withthe Cameroon Ministry of Agricultureand socio-economists from a localWorld Bank surveys unit to provideextension support. In 2004 LBG wassupported by BGCI to further extendthis programme, in a project to train 30farmers and two agricultural extensionworkers, and to establish two nurseriesand two demonstration farms.

Sources: Ewane (2001), Otsubo (1999),Ndam & Sunderland (1997).

Helping farmers in Malabar,India

Malabar Botanic Garden in India ispromoting the cultivation of thestate’s native medicinal plants, bygiving training in relevant techniquesto local farmers. Guidance is givenon the medicinal plants’ cultivation,storage and trade,

Malabar has also published bookson this topic, and on the medicinalproperties of native plants, whichhave been distributed to the farmers.

In the last two years over 200farmers have been trained, and afarmers society has been formed topromote the mass cultivation andtrade of medicinal knowledge. Thishas provided a valuable opportunityfor these farmers to expand anddiversify their crops, safeguardingtheir incomes.

Source: R.Ansari (survey response).

This aspect of well-being focuses on non-material benefits that can be hard toquantify, such as political empowerment,improved social networks and communitycohesion, reduced vulnerability and afreedom from violence and conflict.Although these benefits may be hard tomeasure they are nevertheless key toquality of life and are often highlighted bythe poor themselves as crucial to theirwell-being (DFID, 2006; Bass et al., 2005).

Many botanic gardens have projects thatdirectly tackle social problems, whichoften involve the improvement ofneighbourhood environments through“greening”. The benefits of such projectsare far more than aesthetic: academicresearch has shown that well designedprojects can reduce crime, increasesocial interactions and improve individualfeelings of adjustment (e.g. Coley et al.,1997; Kuo & Sullivan, 2001; Sullivan et al.,2004). Greening projects are now run bybotanic gardens and healthcareinstitutions in many diverse locations,from South Africa to Ukraine and Brazil.In the coldest regions of Russia, theseprojects are especially adapted to meetthe challenges of the harsh climate(Gorbunov, 2001). Botanic gardens suchas that of Yakutsk State Universityinvestigate and develop plants hardyenough to withstand the harsh climate,and also research suitable combinationsof plants to treat the problem of poorinterior air quality of buildings that receivelittle ventilation throughout winter(D.Sofronovna, survey response).

Projects can be especially focused onempowering disadvantaged members ofsociety. For example, the Mexicanbotanic garden “Francisco JavierClavijero” has worked with local ruralwomen to record their traditionalknowledge of plants and their uses, andset up a permanent workshop to helpthem share useful ideas and knowledge(Vovides et al., 1995). With the

assistance of BGCI this garden iscurrently supporting the development of awomen’s tree nursery (Botanic GardenFrancisco Xavier Clavijero, 2005). Ofcourse, many projects that focus on otheraspects of well-being can also addresssocial problems. Home garden projectsdescribed in previous sections have oftentackled inequality and discrimination byfocusing on helping the poorest sectorsof society and working with women.

Gardens themselves can also play avaluable role in communities. They arewidely recognised as providing valuable‘green space’ for urban residents, butthey can also have very specific andsignificant functions for a community.The Mexican botanic garden of Charcodel Ingenio, for example, provides avaluable recreational and ceremonialspace for local people, and in 2004 wasdesignated a peace zone by the DalaiLama (BGCI, 2005b). Similarly, Hawaii’sNational Tropical Botanical Garden(NTBG) at Kahanu is an importantspiritual centre as it contains the massive“Pi`ilanihale Heiau”, a structure made outof lava rock and believed to be the largestancient place of worship in Polynesia(NTBG, 2005). This role can beparticularly important in countries thathave experienced conflict: a botanicgarden to be re-established at Kabul inAfghanistan is specifically designed as apeaceful safe haven for women andchildren (M.Richardson, pers.comm.).

Gardens also help record and promotecultural values and traditions that mightotherwise be lost. For example,Canadian botanic gardens are involved in‘First Nation’ projects to record andpromote the traditional uses of plants bythe indigenous peoples (D.Galbraith,survey response). This type of project isrelevant all over the world, wherevercultures or traditions are eroding. Forexample, the Botanic Garden of Salvador,Brazil, surveyed native species related to

the Afro-Brazilian culture, and itseducation team visited local communitiesto identify “terreiros” whose knowledge ofplant sacred properties formed the basisof a new garden promoting this culture(Oliveira et al., 2005). Gardens can alsohelp to bring communities together tobuild new community values: GarfieldPark Conservatory (GPC), Chicago,facilitates a new Communities Programwhich provides the opportunity for localstakeholders (residents, businesses, cityagencies, local community organisations)to participate in the development of aplan to improve the “quality of life” for theEast Garfield Park area (GPC, 2005).

It is clear that botanic gardens makediverse contributions to improving socialand community well-being, which reflectsthe diversity of their surroundings andsocial context. Consideration of thisaspect of well-being is particularlyimportant where societies have clearproblems of inequality and minoritydiscrimination, but also for any gardens inurban settings, where environmentalquality may be poor, and traditionalknowledge threatened.


Community and social benefits


Bronx Green-Up (BGU)

BGU works with individuals andcommunity groups to improve deprivedurban neighbourhoods through‘greening’. New York Botanical Garden(NYBG) has run this programme since1987.

Community gardens are key to thisproject’s success, and they do muchmore than improve the appearance ofthe neighbourhood: they play a key rolein tackling social problems in theneighbourhood. The gardens havetransformed derelict lots into attractiveand safe places to socialise, improvingcommunity cohesion, whilst theprocess of establishing and caring forthe garden has given residents a senseof empowerment and ownership,encouraging them to tackle otherneighbourhood problems.

“Ours was a nasty lot, with open

prostitution next to a crack house.

Bronx Green-Up offered workshops for

Bronx people interested in making

gardens and parks in empty lots. After

taking the workshops, we all worked

hard to make a beautiful space. No more

crack house or prostitution, only

vegetables, flowers and trees, a place to

work and rest.”

Alfred Bailey and son, Bronx residents.

The gardens also play an important rolein fighting hunger and saving money, asthe retail industry has moved out of theinner city but residents find it difficult toafford transport. Numerous studies havepointed out the economic and nutritionalbenefits that home gardening can bring.(For example, a 1993 study estimatedthat a 64-square-foot plotcould save a family $600 infood purchases per year.)

BGU works hard to initiate and supportthe gardens, providing expertise,training and resources (such as trucksto transport building supplies to thegarden sites). It also works in localschools, and liaises with governmentand local authorities to persuade themto deed garden lots to the community,

and to provide other public amenitieslike new sidewalks. BGU has nowassisted hundreds of communitygardens, roof gardens, school projects,tree plantings and workshops, and it isused as a model for similar programs inother cities and countries.

Source: NYBG (2005; 1996), Keller (1996).

Moroccan women in London

The Chelsea Physic Garden, London,UK, undertook a Cultural Botanyproject with Al Hasaniya MoroccanWomen from North London.London's population is large anddiverse, and includes peoples frommany different ethnic backgrounds.Unfortunately, some members ofthese ethnic minorities, especiallywomen, can be isolated or at adisadavantage within the newculture. This project aimed to recordand present traditional knowledgeamongst urban cultural communities,and to help rebuild personal self-esteem and the social fabric of thecommunity that was severelyeffected by their immigration to theU.K.

The project started from the visit of alocal group of Moroccan women ona guided tour, which promptedmemories and reminiscences abouttheir home country. The projectdeveloped from this outing into adiverse set of activities that focusedon plant use as a basis for engagingand empowering these women. Theproject involved a fact-finding tripback to Morocco for some of thewomen from Al Hasaniya, and theestablishment of discussion groupsto enable the women to share andrecord their botanical knowledge.An ethnobotanist facilitatedrecording traditional knowledge,there were links with The PoetrySociety, and a Morrocan garden wascreated near Meanwhile Gardens inNorth Kensington.

Source: BGCI (1999).

Training for useful skills inJerusalem

Jerusalem Botanic Garden has aprogramme of retraining that focuseson learning useful skills, and inencouraging participants to becomecontributing members of thecommunity. This programme isdesigned to assist local people thatlack job experience, such as theunemployed, new immigrants, andex-soldiers. It also trains prisoninmates. This programme is run incollaboration with the Israelicorrective services, the Nationalwelfare organization, and the Ministryof Labour. Some participants gainprofessional gardening certificates,and some go on to obtain paidemployment.

Jerusalem also has a GardeningClub for disabled war veterans.Most of these veterans have headinjuries or post traumatic stressdisorder, and can have difficultyintegrating into society. The aims ofthis programme include establishinga positive connection to nature, andintegrating participants into thebotanic garden and the widercommunity. The veterans make anessential contribution to the garden'soperations, and participate in allinternal events and social activities.

Source: Y.Ayalon (survey response).

Future plans: rehabilitation inDartmoor Prison

The Eden Project, Cornwall, UK, isworking with the organisation“Business in the Community” tosupport prisoners in theResettlement Unit at DartmoorPrison. They plan to convert threeareas that are currently plain pavedexercise yards into productivegardens, and to develop a circulationspace into a healing and herbgarden. The staff at the EdenProject have used their expertise todesign a planting scheme that willproduce a long succession of freshvegetables for the local community’sfood box scheme, and freshvegetables for the prisoners.

The project is also designed tobenefit the psychological well-beingof the prisoners, and the sensorygarden in particular is intended tohave a calm and therapeutic effect.For example, it will be planted toattract birds, to increase contact withnature. This garden is overlooked bya block housing the most violentprisoners and it is hoped that thescheme will significantly benefit them.The construction and maintenance ofthese gardens will be done byprisoners, who will learn useful skills.This project is planned to start in mid2006, subject to funding.

Source: S.Minter (survey response)

This report illustrates that botanicgardens use biodiversity to improvehuman well-being in many ways. Theseinclude improving healthcare, improvingnutrition, helping to alleviate financialpoverty and community and socialbenefits. Many of these aspects of well-being are linked, and a well designedproject can cause significantimprovements to quality of life. A particular strength of gardens is linkingplants to improvements in healthcare andnutrition, often through empoweringcommunities to set up their own homegardens. Moreover, there is greatpotential to expand the activities ofgardens in contributing to local incomegeneration.

This report also illustrates how thevarious activities in botanic gardensunderpin their ability to improve well-being. Education and research are corestrengths of botanic gardens that need tobe supported and directed to ensuregardens can continue to link biodiversitywith human well-being. For example, notonly should research on economic botany

be encouraged, but efforts should bemade to actually use the results forpractical benefits. It is also importantthat the information about these activitiesis published and effectively shared so ourfuture efforts for well-being are basedupon best practice.

Although some aspects of well-being andproject types are more relevant to someareas than others, botanic gardens canact to improve well-being across all partsof the world. Sometimes this involvescollaboration between gardens and inmany cases the unique role of botanicgardens is complemented bypartnerships and collaborations with non-botanic garden institutions. This highlights the need for effectivepartnerships and networking within thebotanic garden and wider conservationand development community.Botanic gardens are often perceived asinstitutions prized only for their aestheticvalues and roles in gardening andhorticulture, and so seen as institutionswith little relevance to the linked

conservation and development agendas.However, botanic gardens are not just a“pretty place”. Their distinctivecombination of resources mean they arein a unique position to use plant diversityfor human well-being.

“The real key to a sustainable future is

to remember that our efforts towards

poverty reduction and conservation are

mutually reinforcing. In other words,

our programmes should focus on

‘biodiversity for development’ not

‘biodiversity or development.”

Mark Malloch Brown,

administrator of the United Nations

Development Programme.

BGCI believes that botanic gardens havean important role to play in the globalcommunity’s efforts to link biodiversitywith improvements to human well-being.Given the scale of the crisis facingconservation and development efforts, it is an ethical and practical imperativethat botanic gardens are mobilised forthis goal.


In Conclusion

Human well-being is considered animportant goal by many internationalpolicies, conventions, strategies anddependent targets relevant toconservation and botanic gardens. This is especially true of more recentpolicies, which recognise how biodiversityconservation and socio-economicdevelopment can be interlinked. Keyprocesses that are related to this arelisted below in chronological order.Additional information about thesepolicies and how they relate to botanicgardens is available from the BGCIwebsite at www.bgci.org/policies.

The Convention Concerning theProtection of World Cultural andNatural Heritage (World HeritageConvention), 1972

This convention emphasises the need toconserve and promote both biologicaland cultural heritage. As such, humansociety and its uses of biological diversityare as valuable as the biological diversity,and the best interventions are those thatpromote both. For more information, visithttp://whc.unesco.org/.

UN Conference on the HumanEnvironment, 1972

This conference held in Stockholm wasthe first UN meeting that focusedinternational attention on environmentalissues, in particular those relating toenvironmental degradation and“transboundary pollution”. Thishighlighted that environmental problemsdo not recognize political or geographicalboundaries, so require efforts by allcountries and regions to deal with them.

UN Conference on Environmentand Development (UNCED), 1992

This global conference (or “EarthSummit”) was held in Rio de Janeiro onthe 20th anniversary of the firstinternational Conference on the HumanEnvironment in Stockholm, 1972 andbrought together policy-makers,scientists, media and NGOrepresentatives from 179 countries in aneffort to reconcile the impact of humansocio-economic activities on theenvironment. For more information, visithttp://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html.

Agenda 21: Programme of Actionfor Sustainable Development, 1992

This is comprehensive plan of action tobe addressed globally, nationally andlocally by organizations of the UnitedNations System, Governments, and MajorGroups in every area in which there arehuman impacts on the environment. Thiswas a major achievement of the UNCEDin the same year. It promotes balancebetween the socio-economic dimensionsof development, and the conservationand management of resources fordevelopment. For more information, visithttp://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/.

Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD), 1992

The CBD is one of the achievements ofthe United Nations Conference onEnvironment and Development held inRio de Janeiro in 1992. The CBDrecognises that conservation andsustainable use of biodiversity is ofcritical importance in meeting humanneeds, and that human needs must betaken into account when conservingnatural resources. It aims to conservethe world’s biological diversity, but also topromote the sustainable use of thisdiversity, and the equitable sharing of any

benefits arising from it. For moreinformation visit its website athttp://www.biodiv.org.

International Agenda for BotanicGardens in Conservation (IABGC),1999

This was prepared by BGCI based oncontributions from and consultations withover 300 institutions and individualsthroughout the international botanicgarden and conservation communities. It is a framework for botanic gardenpolicies, programmes and priorities inbiodiversity conservation, especially as itrelates to implementation of the CBD.Part of the agenda promotes plantconservation and sustainable use,especially of those plant resources whichhave economic importance to humansocieties. For example, section 2.8promotes the sustainable use ofbiodiversity, whilst section 2.18 promotessustainable development. For moreinformation visit http://www.bgci.org/policies/international_agenda.html.

Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), 2000

These are an ambitious agenda forreducing poverty and improving livesthrough environmental sustainability, whichwere agreed by world leaders in 2000. Foreach goal one or more targets have beenset, usually for 2015. Most governmentsand international agencies have committedthemselves to these goals.

Biodiversity conservation is directlyaddressed through MDG7 ‘EnsureEnvironmental Sustainability’ but reviewsby international conservation bodiesconfirm that the resources of biodiversityare important in meeting the other goals(Satterthwaite, 2003; FAO, 2005; Koziell,2002; Roe, 2002; WHO et al., 1993). For more information visit http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/.


Annex 1: International processes that linkbiodiversity and human well-being

Millennium EcosystemAssessment (MA), 2001

This practical and international workprogramme was launched by the UNSecretary General to collect and provideinformation for the major biodiversityconventions (CBD, the United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification,the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, andthe Convention on Migratory Species). Itfocuses on ecosystem services, and howchanges in these services affect humanwell-being. It also predicts howecosystem changes may affect people inthe future, and the appropriate responsesto improve ecosystem management andthereby contribute to human well-beingand poverty alleviation. Furtherinformation is provided at its websitehttp://www.millenniumassessment.org/.

Equator Initiative, 2002

This is a partnership of severalinternational conservation agencies andgovernment departments. It waslaunched in 2002 specifically to championthe importance of reducing povertythrough natural resource use in thepoorest communities, which are oftenbiodiversity rich. Its work is organisedaround four themes: The Equator Prize,Equator Dialogues, Equator Knowledgeand Equator Ventures. For moreinformation visit http://www.undp.org/equatorinitiative/.

Global Strategy for PlantConservation (GSPC), 2002

This strategy was adopted by the 6thConference of Parties to the CBD, in2002, to provide a framework for actionfor plant conservation. It has 16 globaltargets to be achieved by 2010, some ofwhich are directly relevant to improvingwell-being. The reason for a strategyunder the CBD is that setting meaningfultargets is feasible since scientificunderstanding of at least higher plants,though incomplete, is better than formost other groups. Visit http://www.bgci.org/conservation/strategy.html for moreinformation, and to download the GSPC.

The implementation of the GSPC issupported by the Global Partnership forPlant Conservation (GPPC), for whichBGCI provides the secretariat. For moreinformation, visit www.plants2010.org

World Summit on SustainableDevelopment (WSSD), 2002

The WSSD evaluated progress achievedsince UNCED and reiterated theimportance of Agenda 21. It adopts theJohannesburg Plan of Implementation(JPOI), which provides for a more focusedapproach, with concrete steps andquantifiable and time-bound targets andgoals. The JPOI confirms and buildsupon the CBD and MDGs as tools forachieving poverty reduction linked to

The Millennium DevelopmentGoals

1. Eradicate extreme poverty andhunger Target for 2015: Halve the proportion ofpeople living on less than a dollar a dayand those who suffer from hunger.

2. Achieve universal primary educationTarget for 2015: Ensure that all girls and boys complete primary school

3. Promote gender equality andempower women Target for 2005 and 2015: Eliminategender disparities in primary andsecondary education preferably by2005, and at all levels by 2015.

4. Reduce child mortalityTarget for 2015: Reduce by two-thirdsthe mortality rate among children under five.


5. Improve maternal healthTarget for 2015: Reduce by three-quarters the ratio of women dying inchildbirth.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and otherdiseasesTarget for 2015: Halt and begin to reversethe spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidenceof malaria and other diseases.

7. Ensure environmental sustainabilityTargets: Integrate the principles of sustainabledevelopment into country policies andprogrammes and reverse the loss ofenvironmental resources.By 2015, reduce by half the proportion ofpeople without access to safe drinkingwater.By 2020, achieve significant improvementin the lives of at least 100 million slumdwellers.

8. Develop a global partnership fordevelopmentTargets:Develop further an open trading andfinancial system that includes acommitment to good governance,development and poverty reduction -nationally and internationally.Address the least developed countries'special needs, and the special needs oflandlocked and small island developingStates.Deal comprehensively with developingcountries' debt problems.Develop decent and productive workfor youth.In co-operation with pharmaceuticalcompanies, provide access toaffordable essential drugs indeveloping countries.In co-operation with the private sector,make available the benefits of newtechnologies - especially informationand communications technologies.

biodiversity conservation. This providesthe context of work for the UN’s Divisionfor Sustainable Development, whosewebsite provides more information, athttp://www.un.org/esa/dsd.htm/

Global Strategy for PlantConservation 2010 Targets

1. A working list of all known plant species

2. A preliminary assessment of the conservationstatus of all known plant species

3. Models with protocols for plant conservationand sustainable use

4. 10% of each of the world’s ecological regionsconserved

5. 50% of the most important areas for plantdiversity protected

6. 30% of production lands managed consistentwith plant diversity conservation

7. 60% of the world’s threatened speciesconserved in situ

8. 60% of threatened plants in ex situ collectionsand 10% of them in recovery programmes

9. 70% of the genetic diversity of the majorsocio-economically important plantsconserved

10. Management plans in place for at least 100major alien species that threaten plants

11. No species of wild flora endangered byinternational trade

12. 30% of plant-based products derived fromsustainably managed sources

13. Decline of plant resources, and associatedindigenous and local knowledge that supportlivelihoods, halted

14. Education and awareness about plant diversitypromoted

15. Capacity built for the conservation of plantdiversity

16. Networks for plant conservation establishedand strengthened

The list below contains some definingcharacteristics of Botanic Gardens:however, it is not exclusive orcomprehensive. This is based on the listsand discussion contained in botanicgarden policy and review papers, towhich the reader should refer for moredetails (Wyse Jackson, 1999, 2000;IUCN-BGS, 1989).

• Adequate labelling of plants

• An underlying scientific basis for thecollections

• Communication of information to othergardens, institutions, organisations andthe public

• Exchange of seeds or other materialswith other botanic gardens, arboreta orresearch stations (within the guidelinesof international conventions, nationallaws and customs regulations)

• Long term commitment to, andresponsibility for, the maintenance ofplant collections

• Maintenance of research programmesin plant taxonomy in associatedherbaria

• Monitoring of plants in the collection

• Open to the public

• Promoting conservation throughextension and environmental educationactivities

• Proper documentation of thecollections, including wild origin

• Undertaking scientific or technicalresearch on plants in the collections

Various types of botanic gardens exist,some of which are ‘multi-purpose’ andothers of which carry out differentsubsets of activities. The fastest growingtype are “community botanic gardens”which are created to serve specific needsof their local communities. Other types ofbotanic gardens include: ornamentalgardens, horticultural gardens, historicalgardens, university gardens, conservationgardens, taxonomically-themed gardens,alpine gardens, wild gardens andcombined zoological and botanicalgardens. Many gardens are stateadministered or managed by regional orlocal authorities and receive publicfunding. About a third belong touniversities or other research institutes.


Annex 2: Main characteristics of botanic gardens


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Alsop, R. (ed.), 2005. Power, rights, andpoverty: concepts and connections.The World Bank, Washington D.C,USA.

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Andrade, I.R., 2004. Project “Educationfor Caatinga Conservation at theBotanic Garden of FZB-BH”, FinalReport. Fundação Zoo-Botânica deBelo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Bass, S., Reid, H., Satterthwaite, D.,Steele, P. (eds.), 2005. Reducingpoverty and sustaining theenvironment. The politics of localengagement. Earthscan and IIED,London, UK.

Benham, S., 2005. Botanic Gardenpromotes healthy eating in NewZealand, Cuttings, 2(2): 7.

BGCI, 2005a. Botanic Gardens lead fightagainst urban poverty in Colombia,Cuttings, 2(4): 7.

BGCI, 2005b. Dalai Lama declaresMexican botanic garden a “peacezone”, Cuttings, 2(1): 7.

BGCI, 1999. Agenda 21: Programme ofAction for Sustainable Development,BGCNews, 3(2): 48-54.

Botanic Garden Francisco XavierClavijero, 2005. Grant Application toBGCI.

Botanic Garden of Smith College, 2005.The Taxus Project http://www.smith.edu/garden/Academics/acadtaxus.html,accessed 16 November 2005.

Colchester, M., 2002. Salvaging Nature:Indigenous peoples, protected areasand biodiversity conservation. WorldRainforest Movement, Montevideo.

Coley, R.L., Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C.,1997. Where does community grow?The social context created by nature inurban public housing, Environment andBehavior, 29(4): 468-494.

Damanka, L.A., Ofosuhene-Djan, W.,2001. Handbook for the Harvesting,Preparation & Storage of MedicinalPlants. Aburi Botanic Gardens andBGCI, Ghana.

de Lange, J.H., 1997. Propagation ofhoneybush tea, ARC Bulletin.

DFID, 2006. Poverty and Environment.DFID, London, UK.

Earth University, 2001. Earth University -University Information. http://www.earth.ac.cr/ing/info/index.html, accessed 2February 2006

Earth University Foundation, 2001.EARTH Inaugurates EthnobotanicalGarden. http://www.earth-usa.org/news/news2.html, accessed 26January 2006.

Ewane, J.S., 2001. The importance ofcommunity involvement inConservation, Roots, 23: 32-35.

FAO, 2005. FAO’s role on MDGs - Basicinformation: FAO’s contribution toachievement of the development goalsof the United Nations MillenniumDeclaration. FAO, Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/es/ESS/mdg_kit/contrib.asp, accessed 17 January 2006.

Frazel, M., 1991. Horticultural Therapy,Hospital and Community Psychiatry,42(11): 1192.

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Gorbunov, Y.N., 2001. The role ofRussian botanic gardens in the studyand development of economic plants.BGCNews, 3(7): 35-38.

GPC, 2005. New Communities Ready,Set, Grow! http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/new_communities.htm,accessed 5 January 2006.

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Heywood, V., 1999. Use and potential ofwild plants in farm households.Agriculture department. FAO, Rome,Italy.

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Huxley, A., 1984. Green Inheritance.William Collins Sons & Co., London,UK.

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IUCN-BGS, WWF, 1989. The BotanicGardens Conservation Strategy. IUCN-BGS (Botanic Gardens Secretariat),WWF and IUCN, Kew, UK & Gland,Switzerland.

Jahal, S., Umana, A., 2003. TheEnvironment/Poverty Nexus,Development Policy Journal, 3: 53-70.

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BGCI Botanic Gardens Conservation InternationalBGU Bronx Green-UpCBD Convention on Biological DiversityCCSD Centre for Conservation and Sustainable Development, MBGDFID Department for International Development, UK GovernmentEPY Projet Etnobotanica ParaguayaFAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United NationsGPPC Global Partnership for Plant ConservationGPC Garfield Park Conservatory, ChicagoGSPC Global Strategy for Plant ConservationHIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency

SyndromeIABGC International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in ConservationIiN Investing in NatureITTO International Tropical Timber OrganizationIPGRI International Plant Genetic Resources InstituteIUCN World Conservation UnionJPOI Johannesburg Plan of ImplementationLBG Limbe Botanic GardenMA Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentMBG Missouri Botanical GardenMDG Millennium Development GoalNBRI National Botanical Research Institute, IndiaNGO Non-Governmental OrganizationNTBG National Tropical Botanic Garden, HawaiiNYBG New York Botanical GardenSANBI South African National Biodiversity InstituteTBGRI Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute, IndiaUN United NationsUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNEP United Nations Environment ProgrammeWHO World Health OrganisationWSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development

Acronyms


BGCI is extremely grateful for theinformation and assistance provided byour members through the survey,including Ezeiza Botanical Garden,Argentina; Kings Park and BotanicGardens, Australia; Kärnten BotanicGarden, Austria; Botanic GardenUniversity of Innsbruck, Austria; BotanicGarden “Bosque Rodríguez Alves”Amazonia, Brazil; Ceará Botanical Park,Brazil; Montreal Botanic Garden, Canada;Botanic Garden “Roger-Van den Hende”,Montreal, Canada; Royal BotanicalGardens Hamilton & Burlington, Canada;Sherwood Fox Arboretum, Canada;Calgary Zoo & Botanical Gardens,Canada; Niagara Parks BotanicalGardens, Canada; South China BotanicalGarden, China; Wuhan Botanical Garden,China; “Else Kientzler” Botanic Garden,Costa Rica; Earth Ethnobotanical Garden,Costa Rica; Prague Botanic Garden,Czech Republic; Botanic Garden“ORSTOM”, Democratic Republic ofCongo; Dominica Botanic Gardens,Dominica; Botanic Garden “La Laguna”,El Salvador; Batumi Botanic Garden,Georgia; Aburi Botanic Gardens, Ghana;Julia & Alexander N. Diomides BotanicGarden, Greece; Park for the Preservationof Fauna and Flora, Greece; Tau-Thessaloniki Forest Botanic Garden,Greece; Philodassiki Botanic Garden,Greece; Budapest Zoo and BotanicalGarden, Hungary, Reykjavic BotanicGarden, Iceland; Calicut UniversityBotanical Garden, India; KodaikanalBotanic Garden, India; Malabar BotanicGarden, India; Jerusalem Botanic Garden,Israel; Botanic Garden, University of Bari,Italy; Botanic Gardens of Trento NaturalHistory Museum, Italy; Natural HistoryMuseum and Botanic Garden of Calabria,Italy; MOI University Botanic Garden,Kenya; Multiplant International MedicinalConservation Garden, Kenya; MangyshlakExperimental Botanic Garden,Kazakhstan; Botanical Garden of VilniusUniversity , Lithuania; Botanic Garden

“Jerzy Rzedowski Rotter”, Mexico;Botanic Garden “Rey Netzahualcoyotl”,Mexico; Tzapoteca Ethnobotanic Garden,Mexico; Botanic Garden “FundaciónXochitla”, Mexico; Penang BotanicGardens, Malaysia; Botanic Garden“Rimba Ilmu”, Malaysia; Botanical andExperimental Garden RadboudUniversity, the Netherlands; ArboretumPrzelewice, Poland; Botanical Garden ofMedicinal Plants University of Medicinein Wroclaw, Poland; Garden of MedicinalPlants of The Research Institute ofMedicinal Plants, Poland; BotanicGarden of Coimbra University, Portugal;Botanical Garden “Anastasie Fatu” Iasi,Romania; Botanical Garden of YakutskState University, Russia; Botanic Gradenof Irkutsk State University, Russia;Botanical Garden “Jevremovac”,Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro;Mlynany Sav Arboretum, Slovakia;Garden for Useful Plant Experimentation(JEPU), Senegal; Garden Route BotanicalGarden, George, South Africa; NatalNational Botanical Garden, SANBI, SouthAfrica; Conservatory and BotanicGardens of Geneva, Switzerland; ZurichUniversity Botanical Gardens,Switzerland; Peninsular Khao ChongBotanic Garden, Thailand; Nature PalaceBotanical Garden, Uganda; CambridgeUniversity Botanic Garden, UK; ChelseaPhysic Garden, UK; Eden Project, UK;Chester Zoo Gardens, UK; PaigntonZoological and Botanical Gardens, UK;RHS Garden Wisley; UK; M.M. GrishkoCentral Botanical Garden, Ukraine; UmanDendrological Park “Sophievka”, Ukraine;Adkins Arboretum, Maryland, USA; BettyFord Alpine Gardens, Colorado, USA;Cleveland Botanic Garden, Ohio, USA;Minnesota Landscape Arboretum,Minnesota, USA; San Diego Zoo,California, USA; National BotanicGarden, Zimbabwe. We are alsoextremely grateful to many otherindividuals and institutions for advice and information.

Acknowledgements

Financial support for the productionof this report and for BGCI’sinvolvement in the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation has beenprovided by HSBC through theInvesting in Nature partnership.BGCI is most grateful for thisgenerous support.

This partnership also supportedsome of the projects featured in thisreport, including those at: AburiBotanic Garden, Ghana; BotanicGarden Francisco Xavier Clavijero,Mexico; Calicut Botanic Garden,India; Limbe Botanic Garden,Cameroon; Pillahuinco BotanicGarden, Argentina.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International is a worldwide membershiporganisation working on an international scale to safeguard tens of thousands ofplant species from extinction. Its mission is to mobilise botanic gardens andengage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and theplanet. BGCI brings together the world’s botanic gardens, forming a communityworking in partnership to achieve conservation, education and development goals.

Botanic gardens linking biodiversity with human well-being is one of the six corethemes of BGCI’s work. BGCI believes that the global network of botanic gardenscan play a key role in using plant diversity to improve human well-being.For more information about botanic gardens, biodiversity and human well-being,visit www.bgci.org/wellbeing or email [email protected]

BGCI is an independent organization registered in the United Kingdom as a charity(Charity Reg No 1098834) and a company limited by guarantee No 4673175. BGCI is a tax-exempt (502(c)(3)) non-profit organization in the USA and in Russia.

For more information about BGCI and its activities, please contact:Botanic Gardens Conservation InternationalDescanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, UKTel: +44 (0)2083 325953, Fax: +44 (0)2083 325956, email: [email protected]

Investing in Nature is a five year, US$50million environmental partnership fundedby HSBC, working with BGCI, Earthwatchand WWF.

Through Investing in Nature, BGCI isworking to protect the world’s mostthreatened plant species, contribute tosustainable development, provide supportto economies, livelihoods and theenvironment and increase publicawareness of the importance of plants.

For more information about Investing inNature, please visit www.hsbc.com/investinginnature.


Photo creditsAll photographs are credited to BGCI except for the following:

cover page, Kamla Kulshreshtha (top left), Ursula Chanse for New York Botanical Garden (top right), Conservatory and BotanicGardens of Geneva (centre right), “Roots and Shoots” Milner Gardens & Woodland (bottom left), Fernando M. Fernandes for Zoo-Botanic Foundation, Belo-Horizonte (bottom right)

page 4, Botanic Garden Trust, Sydney; page 6, National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii; page 7, Milner Gardens & Woodland; page8, Chicago Botanic Garden (centre and bottom left); page 9, “Roots and Shoots” Milner Gardens & Woodland (bottom left); page 10,Jason Green for New York Botanical Garden (top right), Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Geneva (centre left), Steve Benham(bottom right); page 11, Missouri Botanical Garden; page 12, Kurt Steiber (top left), Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Geneva(centre and bottom left); page 13, Children in Distress Network (CINDI); page 14, Steve Benham; page 14, Missouri Botanical Garden;page 15, Fiona Secrett for the Royal Horticultural Society; page 17, Kamla Kulshreshtha; page 18, Fernandes M. Fernandes for theZoo-Botanic Foundation, Belo-Horizonte; page 19 Fernandes M. Fernandes for the Zoo-Botanic Foundation, Belo-Horizonte (topright), Earth Botanic Garden (top, centre and bottom right); page 21, Suprabha Seshan for Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary; page 22,Jason Green for New York Botanical Garden (top right), Ursula Chanse for New York Botanical Garden (bottom left and right)

rear cover page, Missouri Botanical Garden (top right and bottom left), Fiona Secrett for the Royal Horticultural Society (top right),Fernando M. Fernandes for Zoo-Botanic Foundation, Belo-Horizonte (bottom right).

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Descanso House, 199 Kew Road,Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5953 Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5956E-mail: [email protected]: www.bgci.org

This publication is supported throughInvesting in Nature

A partnership between BGCI, Earthwatch, HSBC and WWF

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