Notes from the 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress

I’ve just touched down at home after five days in New Zealand at the 5th Global Botanic Gardens Congress; 329 delegates from botanic gardens and arboreta from 45 countries gathered together in Dunedin, New Zealand, to learn how to strengthen our horticulture displays and plant collections, education and visitor programs, and plant conservation science. Our Chicago Botanic Garden motto is “Save the Plants, Save the Planet,” and what an amazing experience it is to spend time with people—mostly brilliant plant scientists—who share this passion and mission, and who will travel from every corner of the globe to help realize it.

Here are two particularly good slides that show some of the big-picture goals presented by Peter Wyse Jackson, Ph.D., president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and chairman of the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation (GPPC).

Drivers of Biodiversity Loss by Peter Wyse Jackson.
Drivers of biodiversity loss by Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson
Grand challenges for botanic gardens by Peter Wyse Jackson.
Grand challenges for botanic gardens by Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson

I had the honor of representing our garden in Chicago four times throughout the Congress, organized by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).  I presented at a symposium with colleagues from England, Austria, and Jordan about botanic gardens’ role in social change; chaired a panel of compelling speakers from Jordan, Mexico, Australia, and the U.S. who shared examples of how to engage communities in conservation; was challenged by the audience at an open forum with Stephen Blackmore, Ph.D. (Edinburgh), Dr. Tim Entwistle, Ph.D. (Melbourne), and Jack Hobbs (Auckland); and delivered a plenary address. If you want to see the range of topics and gardens represented, take a look at the BGCI Congress site; the Twitter comments #BGCI2013 also give highlights.

PHOTO: Group shot standing in front of ocean.
Kayri Havens-Young, Greg Mueller, and Sophia Siskel at Larnachs Castle, Otago, New Zealand

My Chicago Botanic Garden colleagues Greg Mueller, Ph.D., and Kayri Havens-Young, Ph.D., also attended and presented their work (and we had a lot of fun, too).

Being relatively new to the field of plant conservation, I set as one of my Congress goals the memorization of international conservation acronyms. To effectively make our way in any land we need to learn to speak the language!

PHOTO: Powerpoint slide
This is a PowerPoint slide of inside-baseball acronyms from one of the presentations.

So now, after writing down and decoding (i.e., asking the nice person next to me for help or drawing on the seemingly endless patience of my colleague Greg Mueller), the acronyms I heard, I am now semifluent (in that college French kind of way). Below, I offer a plant-conservation-centered sample of what I’ve learned—hopefully this primer will be helpful as you get involved in plant conservation. If you catch a mistake, please let me know!

A superb, professional explanation of UN environmental conventions, and how botanic gardens can support international goals (and more acronyms), may be found in the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation, 2nd edition.

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity
COP Conference of the Parties
SPB Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its 20 Aichi Targets, adopted by the COP to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan, 2010
GSPC Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, adopted by CBD at COP 2002
GPPC Global Partnership for Plant Conservation
CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
SBSTTA Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice
ABS Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing Procedures
GBO Global Biodiversity Outlook
NBSAPS National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans
NFP National Focal Point
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio, 1992)
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Rio, 1992, updated and strengthened by Kyoto Protocol, 2005)
MDG Millennium Development Goals (2000)
UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme
FAO Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries
REDD+ A Climate Change Mitigation Solution Related to REDD
IPBES Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
SSC IUCN Species Survival Commission
TEEB The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GTI Global Taxonomic Initiative
ISPN International Sentinel Plant Network
IPEN International Plant Exchange Network
EOL Encyclopedia of Life
TDWG Taxonomic Database Working Group (Pronounced “tadwig”— this one is my favorite because even after the group changed its name to Biodiversity Information Standards, it kept TDWG as its acronym! Keeping us on our toes.)
MSBP Millennium Seed Bank Partnership
SOS Seeds of Success and also Save our Species (through IUCN)
CWR Crop Wild Relatives
GCDT Global Crop Diversity Trust
ENSCONET European Seed Conservation Network
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
APGA American Public Gardens Association
AZA Association of Zoos & Aquariums
BGCI Botanic Gardens Conservation International
BSA Botanical Society of America
ERA Ecological Restoration Alliance
GCA Garden Clubs of America
CPC Center for Plant Conservation
NSCA Natural Science Collections Alliance
PCA Plant Conservation Alliance
MIPN Midwest Invasive Plant Network
NIPP Northeastern Illinois Invasive Plant Partnerships
BLM Bureau of Land Management
NSF National Science Foundation
USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
LCC Landscape Conservation Cooperative
USDA NIFA United States Department of Agriculture National Institute for Food and Agriculture
PHOTO: Peony bush.
Peonies at Larnachs Castle, New Zealand—October!
PHOTO: Wild echium.
Echium along roadside in New Zealand
PHOTO: Rhododendron shrub.
Rhododendrons at Dunedin Botanic Garden, New Zealand

Chicago experienced its first autumn frost while we were away, but spring in the southern hemisphere was in full bloom. Enjoying the remarkable flowers and landscapes of the South Island of New Zealand only intensified our passion for plants and the joy of gardens and nature.

Thank you BGCI, colleagues, the Dunedin Botanic Garden (and Shane the amazing bus #3 driver) for your leadership, friendship, and hospitality. Until Geneva 2017!


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