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Botanic Gardens: Past, Present and Future

Technical Report · January 1994

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Botanic Gardens: Past, Present and Future
A report of the symposium to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the foundation of the
Botanic Garden of Padua, 29th-30th June 1995

Prepared by:

Terry Sunderland,
Botanic Garden Management Adviser,
Limbe Botanic Garden & Herbarium,
Mount Cameroon Project.
July 1995.
Botanic Gardens: Past, Present and Future
A report of the symposium to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the foundation of the
Botanic Garden of Padua, 29th-30th June 1995

Introduction

Throughout the middle ages, the study of plants was dominated by the vision of Classical
Greek writers such as Theophrastus, Aristotle and Dioscorides. The Renaissance then
heralded an independent approach to what was to become the science of botany, as new
classification criteria and ways of representing plants were introduced. The major
contribution to this new development came from printing. A large number of texts were
published and botanical iconography enjoyed immense popularity in the form of the
illustrated herbal.

Around the same time the earliest botanic gardens were being founded. Having begun in
Italy, at Padua and Pisa, this phenomenon spread rapidly to other parts of Europe. Right
from their inception, these gardens brought together various disciplines. Art and
architecture deeply influenced their design and played more than a secondary role to
botanical criteria in the choice of plants to be cultivated.

This development of botanic gardens was almost exclusive to Europe (although in

Islamic culture, gardens played an important role and Muslim gardening was based on
symbolism and religious and cultural perceptions) and it was not until much later, during
the intense period of colonial expansion in the late 19th century that tropical botanic
gardens were established. Their initiation was based almost exclusively on economic
development but, as will be discussed, the changing nature of the role of these gardens in
the tropics suggests that they owe much more for their future development in past
European botanical expansion than previously considered.

2
Botanic Gardens: past.....
The Renaissance has been described as the rebirth of man; a breaking of the spell that had
bound Europe in darkness for centuries. The artistic, literate and most notably, spiritual
awakening that arose in Europe began in Italy around the mid-fifteenth century and then
swept across the rest of the continent a couple of decades later. Out of this development
came the natural sciences, of which, more than any other, botany was considered as being
the poetry of the earth and its multiformity; the understanding of this principle is an
important feature in the sixteenth century development of botanical thought and work.
Renaissance botanists believed that we do not possess the earth but are allowed to admire
it. That same admiration, which is shared by modern botanical workers, was expressed in
studies about the "miraculous" diversity and beauty of the Earth. Plant biodiversity has
become an important issue at the end of the twentieth century, but the first steps towards
realising the significance of diversity were taken more than four centuries ago.

The development of botany in the sixteenth century was almost entirely based on the
scholarly works of the Greek workers, Dioscorides, Theophrastus and Aristotle. In the
fourth century BC, the philosopher Aristotle suggested that the soul of plants was the
capacity to produce food and this soul must be considered of less important than that of
animals and, therefore, even less important than the soul of man. Theophrastus was a
student of Aristotle and is considered as the first author of a botanical text. His Historia
plantarum indicated that Theophrastus came much closer to recognising the plant as a
living being than Aristotle. For him, the essence of plants is contained in their parts, the
parts together making up the whole, and the different characters of the parts manifest the
complete form. Theophrastus was also the first person to propose a classification system,
and plants were thus classified into four classes: tree, shrub, sub-shrub and herb.
Furthermore, he mentions various plant characters whose value has endured in taxonomy;
annual-perennial, mono-dicotyledony, various forms of symmetry, polypetaloid and
sympetaloid flowers, leaf forms and insertion of the leaf on the stem.

Dioscorides, arguably the most important of these three, served as a physician in the
Roman army under Nero. A botanist and pharmacologist, he wrote a treatment on some
five hundred plants in Greek (Peri Hyles Iatrikes), but better known in the Latin version,
De materia medica. Although Diosorides text scarcely mentions herbs and their uses, this
publication remained the authoritative botanical text for nearly fifteen centuries. His
publication provides a summary of the plant species then known, arranged in a rather
arbitrary order, although some taxa of plant families known today with quite a number of
useful and medicinal plants are can be recognised. Most notable of these are the
Compositae, Leguminosae, Umbelliferae and the Labiatae. Dioscorides collated data
from a number of sources including Theophrastus and Hippocrates among others. His
plant descriptions are short and in fact although a comparative description of plants is not
provided, importance is given to the plants' use for mankind as a medicine or otherwise.
Hence the development of botany, especially in Italy1, in the sixteenth century was based

1 The Italian Renaissance botanists had a lead over Northern European botanists, not only because the
Renaissance began earlier in Italy, but also because they had studied in the same area (and hence the same
plants) as the Classicists. Such was the advanced nature of Italian science that it became customary for

3
solely on the work of Dioscorides and concentrated almost exclusively on the
classification of useful, mostly medicinal plants.

Through the ages the garden, the meeting point of culture and nature, clearly reflected the
nature of society. The Greeks maintained medicinal gardens in secluded forest clearings,
to protect the secrets contained within and this form probably gave rise to the later walled
medicinal plant gardens of Europe. In the Middle Ages, the garden was a fenced piece of
land, neatly divided in rectangular beds which, in turn, were enclosed by small hedges.
According to one ninth-century treatise, the Capitulare de villis, such gardens contained,
or should have contained, a certain variety of plants of use to man and "in compliance
with the will of God". The Capitulare de villis mentions around one hundred plants with
medicinal and other useful plants being joined for the first time by ornamentals such as
roses and lilies. Both of these were of important religious significance, representing
purity and humility.

Plants thus had a function in the typical Mediaeval pattern wherein the objects
surrounding man were reminders of Gods work and will. It is not surprising therefore to
observe that the Renaissance, when man started to look at plants not just because they
had a practical purpose, occurred at the time of the Reformation. Before this time plants
had a purpose and if they were beautiful or aroused pleasure it was simply God's will.

Late on in the Middle Ages, the garden for pleasure appeared. Gardens were no longer
exclusively either orchards or vegetable gardens. Whereas the gardens for use were
closed gardens with rather high walls (drawing on the Greek influence), a garden for
pleasure was structured in a different way: one was able to look over the fence and see
the world about. In short, the hortus inclusus was opened up. Then much later, at the end
of the sixteenth century, the giardini dei simplici (simples gardens2) would make way for
gardens with which plants could be studied: the hortus botanicus or botanic garden.

The hortus simplicium highlighted the conflict between the emerging dominance of
religious and scientific thought during the Renaissance and the Pagan knowledge and use
of plants that had played such a major role prior until this time. These simples gardens
represented the eternal mystery and fertility of womanhood as in such places birth and
healing were dominant elements. Overwhelmed by scents and perfumes, such gardens
were considered an example of nature transcending man; hence conveying the impression
of the supernatural.
The collection of simples, or herbs, conformed to a strict set of rules that were made up
of religious rites and beliefs which were traditionally the knowledge of witches3. It was

students of the arts and sciences to travel through Europe to Italy, where they studied and took doctorates.
For example, Turner, the "father of English botany" studied medicine in Italy before writing his New
Herball.
2 A simple is a herbal remedy; usually of a single species but which are often prepared together to form a
particular treatment.
3 In the Middle East, in Arab and Jew societies, this role was performed by men.

4
believed that these supernatural requirements must be learnt and practised or the herb
would not work4.

Only much later did the first doctors learn the principles of the use of herbs and apply
them under a scientific guise. During the development of medicine as a science, the witch
was the linchpin between botany based on magic and that based on science. The early
doctors were essentially counterparts to witches but were considered far more respectable
to the growing Christian establishment. The early conflicts between the church and the
Paganists due to the majority of traditional medicine originating from the Pagan and
animist world, were countered by the churches' influence through the establishment of
medicine as a pure and logical science5. Hence the change from the hortus simplicius to
the hortus botanicus.

This "validation" of medicine as a science was reflected in the layout of the garden itself
with a new classification system being developed which was based on usage or the plant
parts used6. The regular, symmetrical and numbered arrangement of the plantings
themselves were another attempt to negate the influence of the irregular and disorderly
nature of traditional plant-based medicine. These new medicinal plant gardens performed
four important functions, they: (i) were sources of medicine; (ii) represented a revolution
in science; (iii) were a source of philosophical concepts and (iv) provided objective
therapy.

The influence of universities on this process cannot be underestimated, and was

especially strong in Italy. The teaching of medicine as a science entailed the
incorporation of the hortus botanicus as part of the facility and provided for the
university apothecary. These apothecaries produced manuals which became more
descriptive and contained realistic drawings for the first time7. A further development, as
the sciences of botany and medicine grew, was the establishment of the first herbarium8
in Bologna in 1540 when Luca Ghini made a collection of dried plants of medicinal
interest. Ghini's invention was as simple as it was brilliant, and because of this, we are
able to study plants conserved centuries ago.

With the development of the botanic gardens and herbaria (as mentioned, often attached
to universities) the study of plants increased dramatically. Whereas the basic concept of
the botanic garden has remained virtually unaltered since the Renaissance, the actual
fields of botany has continuously changed. They clearly reflect the preoccupation's and
predilections of a given period, which themselves form a mirror of the dominant

4 For example, the witches' favourite plant was the bella donna (Atropa belladonna), which being highly
poisonous, needed to be collected at the appropriate time and subsequently correctly administered. The
influence of the moon on active ingredients was also considered to be very important.
5 It is interesting then to compare this situation over four hundred years ago with the current interest in the
traditional knowledge and folk lore of plants, especially in the tropics. It is well known that the past ten
years has seen a resurgence in the exploration of the natural world for medicinal products in particular,
often based on leads from traditional practitioners.
6 Pharmacopial classification system.
7 A collection of botanical illustrations is referred to as a hortus florilegium.
8 Referred to as a hortus sicccus.

5
scientific ideas at the time. This does not only hold true for the systematic section of
botanic gardens, where the Tournfourtian was superseded by the Linnaean arrangement
which later gave way to a presentation following more natural systems and finally to
strictly phylogenetic concepts. It equally holds true for the continuously changing
spectrum of plants cultivated in botanic gardens with a massive influx of new plant
material as discovery of new lands occurred. This incoming plant material accordingly
stimulated research and resulted in a reconsideration of traditional taxonomic concepts.

Acting as clearing houses for economic plants in intercontinental exchange was probably
the most important function of botanic gardens during the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. The corresponding establishment of tropical botanic gardens beginning around
1850 (Pamplemouse in Mauritius), with the sole purpose of receiving tropical crops for
domestication and introduction for economic expansion of exploitable new lands9.
Through these networks of botanic gardens, the entire nature and economic development
of the tropics especially was henceforth changed, precipitating an exchange and
movement in plant material around the world on a scale that had never been witnessed
before and changed the economic nature of the world10.

The cultivation of medicinal plants, as botanic gardens developed, has also undergone
variation with the changing spectrum of plants grown reflecting the changes in plants
used for pharmaceutical purposes and the continuous alterations in their arrangement
reflecting the underlying considerations. This started with the theory of complexions11
superseded by taxonomic and finally, chemical concepts.

The attempts of botanic gardens to recreate plant communities thereby imitating natural
landscapes was clearly originally stimulated by the English garden movement of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries but now is more heavily influenced by the relatively
new science of phytogeography. The more recent emphasis on ecological considerations,
life strategies and plant conservation in botanic gardens reflects again a shift in human
society and is clearly the consequence about our growing concern about the rapid man-
made environmental changes that have accelerated in the past fifty years or so.

9 For example rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) and quinine (Cinchona sp.) were introduced from their native
Brazil and Ecuador respectively to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. After mass propagation, planting
stock was then distributed to Malaysia to plantations. Coffee (Coffea arabica) was transported from the
Ethiopian highlands to the Amsterdam Botanic Garden from where, after mass clonal propagation, material
sent to Brazil formed the base of the coffee industry. For decades, the entire crop was of one genotype.
10 This is often referred to as the "accelerated homogenisation of nature.
11 Pharmacological classification; arranged by use or plant part.

6
Botanic Gardens; present...
There are currently over 1,600 botanic gardens in the world with a new one being
registered each week with the Botanic Garden Conservation International (BGCI), who
co-ordinate the network of registered institutions. Regional networks have also sprung
up, most notably in China, Europe and North America.

Over 150 million people visit botanic gardens each year. Four million accessions12 are
held in the living collections of these gardens; representing one half of all the worlds taxa
of ca. 250,000 plant species13. Unfortunately, there is a great imbalance between where
most the plants occur (two thirds of are in the tropics) and where botanic gardens tend to
be situated (most are in the temperate regions; with ca. 400 in Europe alone). Hence,
today the roles of tropical botanic garden such as Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and Limbe in
Cameroon, are of far greater importance than they ever were considered previously.

Traditionally, the gathering of many living collections within botanic gardens has been
motivated by a general pretension for comprehensiveness rather than in response to any
clearly articulated scientific policy and, whilst it is true that botanic gardens have been
involved in conservation activities for much of their history, it has been an implicit rather
than an explicit role. It has only been in the past decade that conservation has been seen
as a proper and in fact vital mission for botanic gardens to espouse.

Additionally, during the twentieth century botanic gardens have played progressively less
attention to the study of plants of economic importance and their introduction into
agriculture and forestry as other specialised institutions took over. This has led to a
divorce between pure and applied science with botanic gardens becoming clearly
identified with the former. This is also the case with, ironically, the cultivation of
medicinal plants, the very element from which botanic gardens grew, which has reflected
the diminishing link between medicine and pharmacy. It is only very recently that botanic
gardens have again been seen as major centres for the study and conservation of
medicinal plants, following recognition of the fundamental importance of these plants in
the health care delivery systems of many developing countries.

Hence it is clear, from observations of the past activities of botanic gardens, and an
appreciation of the present time, that the future role of such institutions is conservation
and development based on the paradigm of the vital relationship between population and
resources.

12Individual collections or specimens.

13It has been estimated that as many as 60,000 plant species may be in danger of extinction or serious
genetic during the next 30-40 years, most of which is caused by habitat degradation and loss.

7
Botanic Gardens: Future...
Thus, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development issues have therefore
become a primary and urgent concern for botanic gardens. However, to be effective in
this role as protectors of the environment and of species diversity, then radical changes in
management, procedures and practices are demanded. The days are gone when botanic
gardens could afford to accumulate miscellaneous collections of a diverse range of plants
with no clear or specific purpose.

To be able to address these issues effectively, each institution must establish coherent
accession policies and develop strategic and management plans. Successful plant
conservation requires rigorous scientific planning and implementation. Additionally,
adequate funds for institutional maintenance and development are nowadays, and
certainly in the future, are only available for botanic gardens that can demonstrate a clear-
sighted vision and efficient operations.

This evolving role of botanic gardens in biodiversity conservation and development is

also inextricably linked to recent advances in molecular techniques to study taxonomy
and plant diversity, communications and information technology and horticultural,
scientific and management practices enhancing their work in species recovery, habitat
restoration and management.

As previously mentioned, botanic gardens and arboreta already undertake much

conservation work but, interestingly, it has often been overlooked or ignored by others
involved in conservation often due to the lack of communication between conservation
agencies. It must be said, however, whether or not the work is been recognised, in the
past it has been inadequate both in terms of quality and quantity. The former passive
conservation role of botanic gardens of maintaining in cultivation a few specimens of
miscellaneous rare species in the absence of a clear accessions policy or of adequate
documentation must become more proactive and rationalised. Often these specimens
have become the only known survivors at all when the species become extinct in the
wild14. Of course the genetic value of such collections as conservation stock is limited
because of the very narrow genetic variation in the samples, but they are better than
nothing at all.

Ideally, all plants should be conserved as evolving populations in nature (in situ). This
facilitates the development of logical plans for demarcating minimal areas for in situ
conservation based on ecological principles of island biogeography. Higher plants, being
sedentary, are pre-disposed to this form of conservation providing that other factors are
not taken into account. Identification and immediate protection of sites of high floristic
conservation value is considered the highest priority, by many workers, in the absence of
even the grossest data upon which to base plans, including basic inventory and ecological

14 For example, at Limbe, we have in cultivation a palm from Madagascar, Chrysalidocarpus pauciflorus,
that is thought to be extinct in the wild, and is represented by only two known individuals at Kew and
Limbe.

8
data of the richest biota. This underlines the vital necessity of increasing inventory and
ecological information as a prerequisite to developing any logical plan for conservation.
In practice, of course, the luxury of regional planning does not exist and the
conservationist only succeeds in raising awareness when an ecosystem or particular taxa
is reduced to endangerment in one or a few isolated localities and is offered a patchwork
of land not already under development. As this development proceeds and natural
habitats become increasingly fragmented, extinction accelerates15.

Coupled with this, even when centres of species richness and endemism can be identified
and conserved, many locally endemic plant species refuse to follow the rules and occur in
isolated areas where perhaps, the conservation priorities are low16. Additionally, for
centuries, many plants of economic value have also been exploited to extinction or
endangerment and they are often not considered in many conservation programmes,
being too monospecific an approach17.

There is therefore a case for some form of selective programme of ex situ conservation,
that is, conservation through cultivation18. However, it should be stressed that in situ and
ex situ conservation, despite being at opposite ends of the spectrum, have no absolute
distinction between them. Nor should they be regarded as alternatives but rather as
complimentary approaches: it is usually possible to collect propagating material from a
wild population of an endangered19 species without endangering further. It is usually
possible to produce large numbers of individual plants from a small amount of
propagation material.

In comparison to animals, plants lend themselves readily to such practices and botanic
gardens, with their great experience in growing plants are well disposed to undertake this
work. The habitat requirements of most plants can be easily accommodated provided that
competition is excluded and, in practice, genotypes can be maintained for long periods.
The bisexuality of the majority of higher plants implies broadly that minimum population
size for the maintenance of heterosis can be half those of populations comprising two
sexes. Also, plants in cultivation lend themselves to research in a way that dispersed and
wild populations do not, especially with regard to the cultivation requirements,
reproductive biology and propagation of individuals20. Added to these attributes, plants
are both attractive and unobtrusive: they are also scented and perceived by humanity as

15 Following the principles of island biogeography, extinction accelerates as land is increasingly

fragmented and isolated.
16 An example of this is the recent discovery of Neoschoumannia kamerunensis (Asclepiadaceae),
considered to be a paleo-endemic of the Mount Cameroon area, in farmland around the village of Likombe;
an area not noted for its particular diversity.
17 It must be remembered that this is far from the holistic approach advocated today: this view of
conservation priorities is related directly to plants and does not take into account other critical factors.
18 A term first coined by Peter Ashton (1988).
19 It is important to note that whilst all endangered species are rare, all rare plants are not endangered;
examples of this are isolated alpine environments and certain species of lowland forest of sporadic but large
distribution.
20 This information is critical if we are to be able to reintroduce these plants back into the wild for the
restoration of natural habitats or for managing populations in their wild state.

9
benign. In short, they are welcome adornments to the human environment and provide an
aesthetically pleasing backdrop to the main role of providing research and educative
material.

Methods of ex situ conservation now available can conveniently be classified according

to the part of the plant that is conserved, be it the whole organism, seed, tissues, or
genetic material in culture. Traditionally botanic gardens have concentrated on the
conservation of whole plants but, as technological advances provide further options, it is
becoming increasingly likely that such expensive, genetically unreliable21 and space-
consuming practices may be superseded by seed banks, tissue culture and
cryopreservation techniques.

At present, the preferred method of ex situ conservation is through storage as seed, the
principle advantage of this being economy of space and the larger sample sizes that then
become possible to ensure wider genetic variation. This method is particularly suitable in
countries with high labour costs and (given the low labour demands of seed banks) and a
dependable power supply. The major disadvantage with this method of preservation is
that it favours species that have a dormancy capacity and seed banks have traditionally
concentrated on crop plants (often ruderals that have long dormancy capacities) and are
not so appropriate for many tropical forest species that have recalcitrant seed (seed that
will not store for any length of time under any defined conditions).

Tissue cultures, especially of meristems can maintain genotypes unaltered over long
periods and this method is gaining in importance in many botanic gardens. This technique
provides an economic means of suspending , at least temporarily, changes in gene
frequency in cultivated populations. Mutations do occur, particularly in cell and callus
tissues, but are less frequent than in whole, cultivated plants hence ensuring genetic
integrity.

For the future, and a method that is being pioneered at Kew for systematic research and
conservation of highly endangered taxa, is analysis of DNA sequences. Such analysis
provides an indication of genetic diversity and can detect small changes between
individuals and populations as well as between more distinct taxa. It is suggested that
cryogenic storage of seed based on this analysis may provide in the future the most stable
form of the preservation of genetic information.

However, for many botanic gardens, especially in tropics, economic and technical as well
as biological constraints determine the type of ex situ conservation strategy to be
considered. Seed banks, tissue culture and cryogenics need vast inputs of resources,
trained personnel and base-line biological knowledge, which often does not feature in the
tropics especially. The lack of suitable taxa for storage, even in seed banks, also indicates
that tropical botanic gardens must concentrate at present, and for the immediate future, on
cultivating priority taxa with a view either for reintroduction or for research to enable the
better management of the resource in the wild.

21 Whole plants conserved in gardens often hybridise with related taxa.

10
The problems associated with such a elementary method of conservation such as:
(i) The poor initial sampling which seldom, if ever, is undertaken to ensure that a wide
range of genotypes is represented;

(ii) The risks of selfing in the cultivated populations;

(iii) The risks of hybridisation with closely related species;

(iv) The narrow genetic basis of clonal material;

(v) The low survival rate of many plants in artificial environments;

have been criticised in the past as leading "irrevocably to the domestication"22 of wild
plants. Whilst this might be the case in certain significant senses, these effects may be
limited by taking certain biological and cultural precautions23, but surely, if a species is
saved from extinction, then is this so terrible?

Perhaps the most contentious and difficult task for botanic gardens is to determine on
which species to concentrate conservation efforts. Many conservationists today would
steadfastly reject economically based arguments for setting priorities for a total
stewardship ethic. Obviously the practicality of this is in question; even if enough base
line information existed to be able to pursue this option and is based more on
philosophical considerations rather than scientific criteria24.

The ideal situation is for each botanic garden to concentrate on its local flora. The
advantages of regional concentration is that it represents the most efficient division of
tasks around the world and that it is easier to combine both in situ and ex situ
conservation. For the conservation of the local flora botanic gardens should (BGCI
1989):

(i) Associate themselves with a national programme for co-ordinating rare plant
conservation, or, if one does not exist, create one;

(ii) Ensure that all appropriate national and local conservation bodies are involved.

(iii) Undertake field studies to make status reports on potentially rare and endangered
species;

22 Ashton (1988).
23 These difficulties can be overcome by techniques such as careful initial sampling, maintenance of a wide
range of distinct, properly documented lines and clones, the use of hand pollination, and adequate
separation of related species.
24 This would entail attempting to preserve as many species as possible and is justified on the grounds that
there is not a single species that we can positively declare as not worthy of conservation.

11
(iv) Compile and maintain a database on conservation-worthy species, including
information on endangerment status25.
Where this is not possible to concentrate solely on their local flora due to environmental
or political constraints, botanic gardens should co-ordinate their priorities26.

The immediate and future role of botanic gardens in the ex situ culture of endangered
plants lies in research, education and development, rather than conservation per se. For
example, conservation priorities should meet human needs and provide solutions to
developmental issues related to plants; this should be the immediate criteria behind the
development of a conservation programme, before purely scientific considerations. It
might be argued that by meeting the requirements of the human population in the area of
botanical concentration, and conservation effort will be far more effective27. The
horticultural and botanical skills of botanic gardens are also invaluable in contributing to
development issues, not only in the cultivation of threatened, economic or scientific
material, but also in providing expertise to enable societies that rely heavily on plant use
to obtain the skills to diversify their horticultural or agricultural operations28.

Hence the role of ex situ conservation should be regarded as a means to an end, not as an
end in itself: as a source of material for reintroduction where appropriate, for research
and education, and for selecting material for introduction into the nursery trade29, local
agriculture, amenity planting, local forestry etc. Another role, as discussed, is to take the
pressure off wild populations for plants that are over exploited. Above all, ex situ
conservation makes plants available for use by man.

To fulfil the criteria to enhance and focus the value of living collections, only fully
documented plant material, following an established accession policy30, is of value. The

25 The current development of the BRAHMS database at Limbe will provide exactly this for the Mount
Cameroon region.
26 For example in Madagascar, the Tsimbazaza Botanic Garden is situated at an altitude of 1000m which is
not suitable for the cultivation of many lowland forest and savannah species. Hence, the largest collections
of succulents from Madagascar are grown in S. Africa and highly endangered Mascarene palms cultivated
accordingly at Limbe; these represent the most valuable representations of such taxa outside of the wild.
27 The Limbe Botanic Garden is concentrating its ex situ conservation programme not only of threatened
taxa such as West African orchids, Cola or Madagascan palms, but also on the major economic species of
the region that are contributing to, not only resource depletion, but also to overall forest degradation.
Subsequent establishment of such material through community forestry can be seen as reintroduction of a
sort and whilst not truly habitat restoration will undoubtedly contribute to better management of the
existing resource. The emphasis of our own accession policy is highlighting the interaction between plants
and people.
28 Again, at Limbe, low technology cultivation of ornamental plants is being undertaken with a view to
transferring this technology to local communities for the cultivation of cut flowers. The market for such is
well developed in Cameroon, and suffers from poor supply, hence the product is of high value.
29 A programme of domesticating many of the locally found ornamental species has been in operation at
Limbe since 1993. Many of the amenity areas are planted with highly decorative taxa that are propagated
and distributed and a significant local and international interest in such plants has developed. The
programme has highlighted to many the intrinsic value of their own plant resources.
30 An accession policy should take into account the following factors: (i) the nature and size of the flora (ii)
requests and proposals by international bodies ( IUCN, BGCI) for action to preserve particular species or
groups (iii) Co-operative agreements with international agencies or national gene banks to assist in the

12
current development and use of many-digit indexing systems are a long way from the
simple numbering of flower beds used in old botanic gardens such as Padua. At present
the BGCI is currently developing a data network that will allow all botanic gardens part
of that network to view accession data from other institutions discouraging duplication in
living collections and encouraging increasing specialisation31. This would be interlinked
with the growing Internet system, also being developed by BGCI32 and should be
operational by the end of 1995, to which it is hoped every botanic garden will
subscribe33 (although the software will be free to all tropical botanic gardens). The co-
ordination of conservation efforts will be far more controlled; it will allow less
duplication of activity and hence much greater efficiency.

The role of applied research undertaken by botanic gardens has often been much
understated and maligned. The role of research in making available base line information
to managers of wild lands cannot be emphasised more and without it, it would be
impossible to produce or implement coherent management plans. For the future, botanic
gardens will continue to define, produce and make available all information relating to
plants and their ecosystems. In this respect, Peter Ashton (1988) probably provides the
best summary for the role of the botanic garden in the future:

".. botanic gardens have an opportunity, indeed an obligation which is open to them
alone, to bridge the traditional concerns of systematic botany and the returning needs of
agriculture, forestry and medicine for the exploration and conservation of biological
diversity".

conservation of plant genetic resources and (iv) education needs and programmes e.g. to display the range
of plant diversity or the diversity of special groups such as medicinal plants, ornamentals, modern cultivars,
etc.
31 Thus from Limbe we would be able to retrieve records from botanic gardens as far apart as Australia and
the UK.
32 This is being developed under the name of BG Net.
33 With the criteria for successful operation being a reliable telephone line, it might be a while before LBG
is able to utilise this opportunity.

13
Endnote:
To understand the future, one needs to reflect upon the past and take account of the
present. From this then, it is clear that far from being esoteric academic idiosyncrasies,
botanic gardens have reflected and met the needs and demands of society as society itself
is changed and evolved (and indeed are still doing so) and perform as important a role
and function in today's society as they ever have at any time in their long history. It is
certainly true then, that the rapidly increasing demand for ex situ conservation,
occasioned by the inexorable destruction of natural habitats and the resources held
within, presents botanic gardens with a challenge and an opportunity for the future, the
like of which have not arisen for more than a century.

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Appendix 1: List of speakers
This report was produced from a summary of the following keynote lectures.

1. J. DE KONING, Botanic Garden, Leiden. Botany in Europe in the 16th century.

2. H.W LACK, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Berlin. Botanic Gardens and the
development of systematic botany.

3. A. BRUNI, Istituto ed Orto Botanico, Universita de Ferrara. Botanic Gardens and their
role in the establishment of the concept of drug.

4. M. VENTURI FERRIOLO, Universita di Salermo. The Hortus Simplicium of the

Salerno Medical School: sources, tradition and perspectives.

5. P.S. WYSE JACKSON, Botanic Garden Conservation International. The role of

Botanic Gardens in biodiversity conservation.

6. M.F. FAY, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The role of in vitro and molecular
techniques in the conservation of threatened species.

7. G. MOGGI, Dipartmenti di Biologia, Vegetal, Firenze. Specialised Botanic Gardens;

role and perspectives.

8. K. LORENTZON, Department of Horticulture, Alnarp, Sweden. The Conservation of

old valuable garden plants.

9. M. DELMAS, Jardin des Plantes, Paris. The Jardin des Plantes and its policies of
conservation, research and education.

10. T.R. TOMLINSON, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. Plants as

medicine; scenarios for educating the public.

11. A. TOSCA, Centro MIRT, Italy. In vitro culture and the conservation of native
plants.

12. S. MINTER, Chelsea Physic Garden. The garden of world medicine.

Additional references:

13. ASHTON P. 1988. Conservation of Biological Diversity in Botanical Gardens. In

E.O. WILSON. Biodiversity. National Academy Press.

14. BGCI. 1989. The Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy. WWF & IUCN BGCS.

15
Appendix 2: The Main Kinds of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta
There are many kinds of botanic gardens and arboreta. The principle ones are:

1. Traditional state-supported with an associated herbarium and laboratories; open to the

public (e.g. Kew, Limbe, Berlin, Bogor, Perideniya).

2. Municipal or civic, sometimes with an associated herbarium and laboratories, normally

open to the public (e.g. Gothenburg, Glasgow, Nantes).

3. University with associated herbarium and laboratories, usually open to the public (e.g.
Oxford, Cambridge, Montpellier).

4. Private (but often with some state support) with an associated herbarium and
laboratories, usually open to the public (New York, Missouri).

5. Private, without state support, usually without a herbarium and laboratories (e.g. Las
Cedres, Mount Usher).

6. Agrobotanical gardens (e.g. Castelar, Gatersleben).

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 Appendix 4: The defining characteristics of a Botanic Garden
The following is a list of criteria set out by BGCI, that may be met in part or whole by an
institution that is considered to be a Botanic Garden:

1. A degree of permanence.

2. An underlying scientific basis for the collections.

3. Proper documentation of the collections, including wild origin.

4. Monitoring of the plants in the collections.

5. Adequate labelling of the plants.

6. Open to the public.

7. Communication of information to other gardens, institutions and the public.

8. Exchange of seeds or other materials with other botanic gardens, arboreta and research
stations.

9. Undertaking of scientific or technical research on plants within the collections.

10. Maintenance of research programmes in plant taxonomy in associated herbaria.

(It is important to note that the above list does not constitute a comprehensive summary
of the activities of a botanic garden).

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