Everything You Need to Know About

Tourism Ambassador Training, June 5th 2019

Introductions Jackson Hudecki Special Programs Coordinator

Canadas Largest Botanical Garden!

• 1919: The Hamilton Bird Protection Society (now the Hamilton Naturalists Club) secures south shore of Cootes Paradise Marsh ecosystem

• 1926: City of Hamilton buys Burlington Heights for beautification project, including 5.5 acre gravel pit

• 1927: City of Hamilton buys south shore of Cootes Paradise Marsh for new botanical garden, university campus, and protection from development

• 1930: King George V approves the name “Royal Botanical Gardens,” applied to south shore of Cootes only

• 1932: Rock Garden opens to the public; late that year Rock Garden and Burlington Heights included in RBG

• 1941: Provincial Act creates RBG through Act promoted by Minister T. B. McQuesten

Thomas Baker McQuesten

Our Legacy

Neat Facts

• We are a Biodiversity Hotspot!

• 25% of all of the wild plant species in Canada grow here

• 40% of all the wild plant species in Ontario

• more plant species here than any other protected area in the country

More neat things:

• part of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve, & the Niagara Escarpment Parks System

• part of the Ontario Greenbelt

• Part of the Cootes to Escarpment Park System

• a national Important Bird Area

• a national Important Area for Reptiles and Amphibians

We Protect:

• over 40 living plant collections • a 60,000-specimen herbarium • two provincially significant ANSIs-

Area of Natural and Scientific Interest

• Class 1 Wetlands • over 50 species at risk naturally

occurring • a National Historic Site of Canada • a significant and complex cultural

landscape with 7,000 years of human history

Connections

• Member of the American Public Gardens Association!

• Over 600 gardens in North America united!

• Next week is National Public Gardens Week!

• www.publicgardens.org

Community Connectors

• RBG enjoys approximately 700,000 visitors annually

– 350,000 paid visitors

– Approximately 350,000 patrons enjoy and use year-round trail systems.

• 10,700 RBG Members: households representing 17,800 individuals annually.

Past and Present

Conservation • Protecting land, water, species @ risk forever

• Inventory species of plants, trees, birds, bugs, reptiles,

amphibians, mammals

• Report to government officials and the public annually

Education • Host school, youth, corporate groups

• Hold exhibits, events, programs, camps, clubs

• Provide expertise on various components of science

Horticulture • Grow and maintain plant collections:

• Crabapples, Magnolias, Lilacs, Peonies, Iris, Roses etc.

• Curate collections and propagate plants in-house

Science • Regularly observe and study land, water, plants, species at risk

etc.

• Maintain local and global plant specimens through a herbarium

Our 4 Pillars

Conservation

Protecting something today for future generations

Protecting Cootes Paradise Marsh

Princess Point

Desjardin Canal in Cootes

Hendrie Valley

Birds-eye View of Hendrie Valley

Rock Chapel

Protecting Nature Amongst Us

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Sharing the Earth

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Education Delivering natures message to those eager to

learn

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You can alternate image left to right,

or just a full colour box when the

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Horticulture The art and practice of garden cultivation and management

Hendrie Park

Hendrie Park

Mediterranean Garden

Rock Garden

Laking Garden

Arboretum: Tree Museum

Arboretum: Tree Museum

Arboretum: Tree Museum

Science ‘.. Is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.’

Carl Sagan

Partners in Protection

In Sum RBG Mission: We dedicate our expertise in horticulture, conservation, science and education to connect people, plants and place for the purpose of nurturing and preserving healthy growing life on our planet. Vision: A world in which everyone is awake to the beauty, diversity and necessity of plants, and from that consciousness more actively works together to protect and preserve plant species and habitats and, by extension, our planet.

“Royal Botanical Gardens puts nature’s

beauty on display, but it isn’t a park

system. It teaches but it isn’t a school.

It protects and preserves forest and

marsh, but it isn’t a conservation

authority. It collects and propagates

botanical knowledge and plant life, but

it is not a library, museum, or

laboratory. It is all those things and

more than their sum”.

Dr. Leslie Laking, RBG Director Emeritus

!

If you garden:

• Survey your plot • Look for sun orientation, water

pooling/run-off, wind impact, soil type • Always buy native plants to your region • Never buy invasive plants, and remove them if

they exist • Ontario Invasive Plant Council • “Grow Me Instead” guide • www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca

• Your garden can be a natural corridor connecting to local conservation areas!

• In the fall- Leave Your Leaves!!

After today

If you are interested in visiting, joining a club or workshop, working at or volunteering with Royal

Botanical Gardens check out

www.rbg.ca

After today

THANK YOU!!

That’s IT!