The botanical gardens; conservation strategy
There are about 1,500 botanic gardens and arboreta in the world, visited by over 150 million members of the public each year. They are therefore ideally placed to convince the public of the importance of plant conservation, and play a leading part in achieving conservation of plant life-in the wild, in cultivation and in gene banks. The Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy is intended to stimulate a far greater involvement by botanic gardens in implementing the World Conservation Strategy than they have shown hitherto. It provides a rationale for the involvement of botanic gardens in conservation and gives policy nguidance on how this can be achieved. It is designed principally for those who work in them, and for those who could make better use of them. The Strategy outlines the contribution that botanic gardens can make to achieving what the World Conservation Strategy identifies as the three main objectives of living resource conservation: .To maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems .To preserve genetic diversity .To ensure that the utilisation of species and ecosystems is sustainalbe. The World Conservation Strategy outlines the reasons why these objectives must be achieved as a matter of urgency and the obstacles to their achievement. The main role of botanic gardens in this process will be to contribute to the preservation of plant genetic diversity and to help ensure the sustainable utilisation of plant species and the ecosystems in which they occur. This is urgent because: As many as 60,000 plant species may be in danger of extinction or serious genetic erosion during the next 30-40 years (out of the world's 250,000), most of which is caused by destruction of their habitats, principally in the tropics. Many others such as rattans, quality hardwoods and medicinal plants are taken from the wild to an extent that cannot be sustained and already some of their plant populations are becoming exhausted. People presently depend on as few as 20 plant species for over 85 of their food, plants that are suffering a decline in their genetic diversity. Many other plants have never been examined for useful products and their potential as commercial crops has not been explored. Thousands of species have not yet been given a name or described scientifically, and we are, therefore, ignorant of the value that they may have for mankind. The strategy first provides an analysis of the present situation in botanic gardens of the world. This shows the great and very desirable diversity between where most of the plants occur - two thirds are in the tropics - and where botanic gardens tend to be situated - most are in the temperate realm, c 400 in Europe alone. Many botanic gardens are already committed to conservation, both in situ and ex situ. Others, however, have not been able to meet this new challenge and some are moribund or faltering. More crucial, the botanic garden community, by virtue of its history and diversity, has not yet organised itself into a network that will be an effective force for plant conservation worldwide. The Strategy: Recommends that each individual garden clarify its commitment to conservation in a Mission Statement and adopts more professional standards of management to achieve its Mission. Provides the basis for a more coherent Accessions Policy that takes account of conservation needs and of what plants are held in other botanic gardens. Outlines ways to improve the documentation of plant records and the verification of plant holdings, including computerisation to improve management of the collection and to
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
Gland (Suiza)
1989
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| Subjects: | ESTRATEGIA PARA LA CONSERVACION, JARDINES BOTANICOS, |
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| Summary: | There are about 1,500 botanic gardens and arboreta in the world, visited by over 150 million members of the public each year. They are therefore ideally placed to convince the public of the importance of plant conservation, and play a leading part in achieving conservation of plant life-in the wild, in cultivation and in gene banks. The Botanic Gardens Conservation Strategy is intended to stimulate a far greater involvement by botanic gardens in implementing the World Conservation Strategy than they have shown hitherto. It provides a rationale for the involvement of botanic gardens in conservation and gives policy nguidance on how this can be achieved. It is designed principally for those who work in them, and for those who could make better use of them. The Strategy outlines the contribution that botanic gardens can make to achieving what the World Conservation Strategy identifies as the three main objectives of living resource conservation: .To maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems .To preserve genetic diversity .To ensure that the utilisation of species and ecosystems is sustainalbe. The World Conservation Strategy outlines the reasons why these objectives must be achieved as a matter of urgency and the obstacles to their achievement. The main role of botanic gardens in this process will be to contribute to the preservation of plant genetic diversity and to help ensure the sustainable utilisation of plant species and the ecosystems in which they occur. This is urgent because: As many as 60,000 plant species may be in danger of extinction or serious genetic erosion during the next 30-40 years (out of the world's 250,000), most of which is caused by destruction of their habitats, principally in the tropics. Many others such as rattans, quality hardwoods and medicinal plants are taken from the wild to an extent that cannot be sustained and already some of their plant populations are becoming exhausted. People presently depend on as few as 20 plant species for over 85 of their food, plants that are suffering a decline in their genetic diversity. Many other plants have never been examined for useful products and their potential as commercial crops has not been explored. Thousands of species have not yet been given a name or described scientifically, and we are, therefore, ignorant of the value that they may have for mankind. The strategy first provides an analysis of the present situation in botanic gardens of the world. This shows the great and very desirable diversity between where most of the plants occur - two thirds are in the tropics - and where botanic gardens tend to be situated - most are in the temperate realm, c 400 in Europe alone. Many botanic gardens are already committed to conservation, both in situ and ex situ. Others, however, have not been able to meet this new challenge and some are moribund or faltering. More crucial, the botanic garden community, by virtue of its history and diversity, has not yet organised itself into a network that will be an effective force for plant conservation worldwide. The Strategy: Recommends that each individual garden clarify its commitment to conservation in a Mission Statement and adopts more professional standards of management to achieve its Mission. Provides the basis for a more coherent Accessions Policy that takes account of conservation needs and of what plants are held in other botanic gardens. Outlines ways to improve the documentation of plant records and the verification of plant holdings, including computerisation to improve management of the collection and to |
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