The Role of Botanical Gardens in Biodiversity-Related Education · The Role of Botanical Gardens in...

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Page 1 The Role of Botanical Gardens in Biodiversity-Related Education 22 November 2018 For biodivcanada Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Canadian and International Biodiversity Dr David Galbraith, Head of Science Royal Botanical Gardens (Canada)

Transcript of The Role of Botanical Gardens in Biodiversity-Related Education · The Role of Botanical Gardens in...

Page 1: The Role of Botanical Gardens in Biodiversity-Related Education · The Role of Botanical Gardens in Biodiversity-Related Education 22 November 2018 For biodivcanada Celebrating 25

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The Role of Botanical Gardens in

Biodiversity-Related Education

22 November 2018

For biodivcanadaCelebrating 25 Years of Action for Canadian and International Biodiversity

Dr David Galbraith, Head of ScienceRoyal Botanical Gardens (Canada)

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Acknowledgment of Traditional Territories

• I would like to begin by acknowledging that I am speaking to

you from the traditional territories of the Anishinaabe,

Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat Nations. First Nations

and Métis Peoples have a long history in Ontario. I would like to

pay respects today to the Six Nations of the Grand River

Territory and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

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Today’s Webinar

• Biodiversity Challenges and

Educational Needs

• Audiences and Modes of

Education

• Capacity of Botanical Gardens

in the 21st Century

• Some Examples

Jardí Botànic de Barcelona

Upper: Barcelona Botanic Garden, Barcelona, Spain

Lower: Bruce Botanical Food Garden, Ripley, Ontario, Canada

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Demographic Challenges and Contact with Nature

• November 2018: the human population

is 7.7 billion and growing

• 54.8% are Urban as of 2017

• 81.4% are Urban in Canada in 2017 as

example of developed economy

• Lack of inclusion of plants or other

botanical subjects in curricula at all

levels

• Shifting Baselines phenomenon

Shanghai, China

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Many People are Disconnected from Nature

• Plant Blindness as an issue: many people do not perceive

plants as “alive” or individuals/species

• North Americans today recognize fewer than 10 plants but over

1,000 corporate logos and trademarks

• Increase of screen time and digital

recreation further disconnects

growing children (and adults)

from nature

Winged Loosestrife

Royal Botanical Gardens

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"In the end we will conserve only what we love,

we will love only what we understand;

and we will understand only what we have been taught"

Baba Dioum, Forestry Engineer, Senegal

from a 1968 address to the IUCN General Assembly

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Education Needed about Key Biodiversity Issues

• Food security issues

• Sustainable land management practices on small and large

scales

• Indigenous cultures and understanding their connections to

plants and the land

• Economic uses of plants

• Climate change and threats to plant diversity

• Plant conservation links to CBD, Aichi Targets, SDGs,

NBSAPS

• Capacity for plant conservation

• Training of practitioners, including highly-qualified personnel

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Barriers to Engagement about Biodiversity and Plants

• Disconnection from nature, urbanization

• Changes in information access, recreation, rise of “screen time”

• Plant blindness

• Lack of inclusion of plants or

other botanical subjects in

curricula at all levels

• Shifting Baselines phenomenon

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Aichi Biodiversity Targets

• 14 of 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2020 depend upon or

speak to plant conservation in a substantial way

• Just three examples:

• Target 5 - By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved

and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly

reduced.

• Target 13 - By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated

animals and of wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable

species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing

genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

• Target 18 - By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and

local communities relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and their

customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and

relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of

the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at

all relevant levels.

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Sustainable Development Goals

• 11 of 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 depend upon

or speak to plant conservation in a substantial way

• Just three examples:

SDG 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and

promote sustainable agriculture

SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial

ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and halt

and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

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Multimodal Biodiversity Education within Botanical

Gardens

• Formal education

• Informal education

• Interpretation

• Professional education

and development;

Higher Education

• Community and

Volunteer

Engagement

Professional Plant identification Workshop at Royal Botanical Gardens

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We help others learn about

biodiversity every day, even if we

don’t call it that…

RBG Staff training volunteers about traditional

European medicinal plants.

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Development of Botanical Gardens

• 16th Century: “Age of Exploration”

received plants; also for medical

teaching

• 17th and 18th Centuries: Research

functions were elaborated

• 19th Century: Some opened to

public visitation

• 20th Century: Many created as

civil amenity, facilities at

universities Tanks of aquatic plants and the "Goethe

Palm" greenhouse, Orto Botanico du

Padua, Italy. Photograph in Public

Domain via Wikimedia

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Wyse Jackson, P. S . (1999) Experimentation on a Large Scale - An Analysis of the

Holdings and Resources of Botanic Gardens. BGCNews Vol 3 (3) December 1999.

Botanic Gardens Conservation International, U.K., Pg. 27.

“Botanic gardens are institutions holding

documented collections of living plants for the

purposes of scientific research, conservation,

display and education.”

National Botanic Garden, Dublin, Ireland

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Acknowledging Historic Botanical Gardens Issues

• Some botanical gardens have

been involved in appropriation of

traditional and Indigenous

knowledge and plants

• Some botanical gardens have

been sources of introduction of

invasive species

Dog Strangling Vine, an escapee from cultivation

in Ontario

Photograph by Epibase - Own work, CC BY 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid

=7567542

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Botanical Gardens and Related Institutions World

Wide: 3,531 as of November 2018

Data source: Table 3, International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in

Conservation, 2nd Ed. BGCI. 2012.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

Europe NorthAmerica

Asia SouthAmerica

Africa andIndianOcean

Australiaand thePacific

RussianFederation

CentralAmerica andCaribbean

Middle East Central Asia

Global Distribution of Botanic Gardens as of 2012

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Botanical Gardens’ Collections World Wide:

Conservation and Education Resource

• 1,401,239 collection records;

550,407 taxa

• at 1,103 contributing institutions

• 16,802 taxa with IUCN Red-List

rating above Least Concern

• 36 Extinct in the Wild

• 2,602 Critically Endangered

Data source: BGCI GardenSearch Database. Accessed 13 Nov

2018.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Richmond, UK

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Botanical Gardens Education among 160 Public

Gardens in North America

Formal Instruction (curriculum-based and linked to

classroom programming):

• K-Grade 5: 656,433 learners

• Grades 6-8: 89,295 learners

• Grades 9-12: 46,715 learners

• Adult, College and University Level: 22,128 learners

Data source: APGA 2015 Benchmarking Survey

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Botanical Gardens Education in North America

Informal Instruction (differently-structured; interest-driven):

• K-Grade 12: 423,278 learners

• Total Children’s Education: 1.135 million learners

• Informal Adult Education: 324,819 learners

Totals:

• Children’s Education: 1.135 million learners

• Total Adult Education: 364,947 Students

Data source: APGA 2015 Benchmarking Survey

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Educational Resources within Botanical Gardens

• Expert Staff (often

including professional

educators)

• Living Plant Collections

• Learning Spaces

• Library Collections

• Other Collections

(herbaria, ethnobotany

museums, etc.)

• Interpretation (Signage,

Animation, etc.)

• Educational Partnerships

Data source: BGCI GardenSearch Database. Accessed 13 Nov

2018.

Multifunctional Teaching Space at Royal

Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland

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Food Security

• Widely-relatable

• The Big Picnic

program in the

UK

• US Urban Food

Gardens

• Re-establishing

traditional foods

in Cuba

Kitchen Garden Demonstration, National

Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

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Landscape

Sustainability

• Landscape For Life™

Program in North

America as example

– teaching land

owners sustainable

land management

practices

Composter Garden, Jardin

Botanique du Nouveau-Brunswick,

Saint-Jacques, New Brunswick,

Canada

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Pollinators and Pollinator Gardens as Interest Points

Monarch Butterfly and Honey Bee on Salvia,

Royal Botanical Gardens’ Scented Garden

• Charismatic pollinators –

like Monarch Butterflies –

can draw interest in

gardens

• Projects across North

America are encouraging

home owners, agencies to

install

• Provides educational

opportunity to expand

discussion about

biodiversity in cities

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Indigenous Peoples Gardens

• First Peoples Garden at

Montreal Botanical garden

• Collaboration with 11

Indigenous nations in

Northern Quebec

• Includes interpreted forest

pathway, museum display

area, interpretation by First

Nations students

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Page 1Anishinaabe waadiziwin - Indigenous

Knowledge Trail at Royal Botanical Gardens

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Local Community Engagement at Royal Botanic

Garden, Amman, Jordan

• New botanic garden,

not yet open to the

public

• Working since 2007

on education and

engagement with

local communities

Royal Botanic Garden of Jordan, Tal Al-Rumman, Jordan

From American Public Gardens Association Web Site

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The Phipps Research Institute for Biophilia and

Science Engagement at Phipps Conservatory and

Botanical Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes at the Phipps Conservatory (left)

and the conservatory itself (right).Photograph by Dllu - Own work, CC BY 3.0,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dllu

• New institute is promoting

biological diversity

education and research

• Publications already on

invasive species, plants

responding to climate

change

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Biodiversity Education Garden at the National

Botanic Garden, Godawari, Nepal

• Garden developed in partnership with

Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh,

Scotland

• Project included local training in

horticulture, development of site-

appropriate interpretation

• Garden presents native Nepalese

plants and interpretation on ecological,

cultural, economic values of plants National Botanic Garden, Nepal staff examine

interpretive panels at the new garden.

Photograph”: Royal Botanic Garden

Edinburgh, published in: Idea to Realisation:

BGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and

Managing Botanic Gardens (2016)

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Engaging Life-Long Love of Nature at Royal

Botanical Gardens, Hamilton and Burlington,

Ontario, Canada

Education Mission Statement:

Education at Royal Botanical Gardens

encourages environmental stewardship

by providing meaningful and diverse

learning experiences that connect

people of all ages with the wild and

cultivated plant world and help them to

understand the crucial role that plants

play in sustaining and enhancing our

lives and the environment.

RBG Junior Gardener and her garden’s

bounty.

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Page 1Children in outdoor area at Nature Interpretive

Centre, Royal Botanical Gardens

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and Public Involvement

RBG Head of Natural Lands Tys Theijsmeijer

explaining invasive fish barrier to visitors

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Page 1Children on RBG Nature Trails in summer camp

guided outdoor activity.

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Conclusions

• Botanical gardens educate millions of people of all ages in

biodiversity-related topics and experiences every year

• These institutions vary in their sizes and capacities but all can

contribute to connecting people to nature and the world of

plants

• Plant conservation is about

more than endangered

species, and botanical

gardens are about more

than ex-situ conservation

A family discovers Toronto Botanical Garden, in

Toronto, Canada.

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Thank You!

Dr David Galbraith, Head of ScienceRoyal Botanical Gardens (Canada)

[email protected] @RBG_Science

Photograph courtesy of Royal Botanical Gardens’

Education Department’s EcoLeaders Program

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Sources and Resources

ROOTS: BGCI’s Educational Review: https://www.bgci.org/public-engagement/roots

BGCI. 2012. International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation, 2nd Edition. Botanic Gardens Conservation International,

Richmond, United Kingdom. On-line Document. Accessed 15 Nov 2018. URL:

https://www.bgci.org/files/Worldwide/News/SeptDec12/international_agenda_web.pdf

BGCI. 2017. Defining the Botanic Garden, and How to Measure Performance and Success: BGCI’s 2nd Technical Review. Botanic

Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, United Kingdom. On-line Document. Accessed 15 Nov 2018. URL:

https://www.bgci.org/files/IAC/IAC%202017/medres.pdf

Cannon, C. H., Kua, C.-S. 2017. Botanic gardens should lead the way to create a “Garden Earth” in the Anthropocene. Plant Diversity

39: 331-337.

Chen, G., and Sun, W. 2018. The role of botanical gardens in scientific research, conservation, and citizen science. Plant Diversity 40:

181-188.

Dunn, C. P. 2017. Biological and cultural diversity in the context of botanic garden conservation strategies. Plant Diversity 39: 396-401.

Gratzfeld, J. (Ed.). 2016. From Idea to Realisation – BGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and Managing Botanic Gardens. Botanic

Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, United Kingdom. On-Line Document. Accessed 15 Nov 2018. URL:

https://www.bgci.org/files/BG_Manual2017/BGCI%20Manual.pdf

Hulme, P. E. 2011. Addressing the threat to biodiversity from botanic gardens. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, April 2011, Vol. 26,

No. 4. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.005

Kuzevanov, V., and Sizykh, S. 2006. Botanic Gardens Resources: Tangible and Intangible Aspects of Linking Biodiversity and Human

Well-Being. Hiroshima Peace Science 28: pp. 113-134.

Navarro-Perez, M., and Tidball, K. G. 2012. Challenges of Biodiversity Education: A Review of Education Strategies for Biodiversity

Education. International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education 12(1). www.iejeegreen.com

Sharrock, S., and Wyse Jackson, P. 2016. Plant Conservation and the Sustainable Development Goals: a policy paper prepared for

the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation. Botanic Gardens Conservation International. On-line document. Accessed 14

Nov 2018. URL: https://www.bgci.org/files/GSPC/PC%20and%20the%20SDGs.pdf

UNEP-CBD. Undated. Aichi Biodiversity Targets: Technical Rationale (provided in document COP/10/27/Add.1: On-line document.

Accessed 14 Nov 2018. URL: https://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/rationale/default.shtml