Peter S. Wyse Jackson
Secretary General, BGCI
The Third International Botanic Gardens Conservation Congress was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from the 19th to the 25th October 1992. The theme chosen for the Congress was "Botanic Gardens in a Changing World". It was organized by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro and held under the patronage of The President of the Republic of Brazil.
The Congress was a great success and the largest international botanic garden conservation congress yet held. Many notable and recent developments in biodiversity conservation in botanic gardens became apparent during the course of the Congress, particularly in the way that botanic gardens worldwide have come together to form a closely co-operating and effective network. The role of Botanic Gardens Conservation International in co-ordinating and helping to guide the development of this network was recognized.
The successful establishment of national and regional botanic garden networks in many parts of the globe was noted and how such networks are giving new priority to the creation of national and regional plans or strategies for their activities. Several delegates pointed out that without strategic development going hand-in-hand with network development, the effectiveness of botanic gardens on plant conservation would be greatly reduced.
The importance of botanic gardens and their network organizations working closely with non-garden institutions and agencies was focussed on, so that their work can be integrated with national and regional biodiversity conservation priorities.
In recent years, many plant conservation techniques used by botanic gardens have undergone considerable re-evaluation. This allows botanic gardens themselves to play a better part in activities such species recovery programmes, especially through plant reintroduction and habitat restoration and management. Speakers throughout the Congress outlined particular examples in these regards. They stressed the need for the preparation of new sets of guidelines and technical manuals to help to standardize the approaches and responses to similar problems facing botanic gardens in many parts of the world.
The problems facing individual botanic gardens were discussed, particularly in regard to difficulties in obtaining sufficient funding. It was concluded that new opportunities for gardens exist in attracting significant new resources if they are able to link their programmes closely with national priorities, especially in regard to the conservation of the germplasm of economic plants, including the wild relatives of crop plants and medicinal plants.
Creating and implementing new corporate and strategic management plans for individual botanic gardens was seen as essential, including the formulation or redefinition of accessions and collections policies in the light of changing priorities.
A notable trend very much in evidence during the Congress was the recognition given by so many botanic gardens of the need to develop broadly-based conservation programmes, no longer primarily focussed on ex situ plant conservation only, but developing their involvement in wild habitat management, inventorying and exploration, plant taxonomy, environmental education and conservation biology research.
Involving horticulturists more in practical conservation programmes in botanic gardens was recognized as a future priority, as well as the need for new horticultural research for conservation.
Although notable advances in data management in botanic gardens was apparent, the Congress recognized that still far too few institutions had developed adequate record systems or had recognized the need to contribute to regional or international monitoring databases.
Further discussions centred on the need to develop more germplasm banks in botanic gardens, particularly the creation or up-grading of many new botanic garden seed banks. Networking such botanic garden seed banks was recognized as an urgent priority for the coming few years.
The Congress was held in technical co-operation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and was with the participation of IUCN - The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the International Association of Botanical Gardens (IABG), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and the Sociedade Botânica do Brasil (SBB).
Support for the Congress was given by the Secretaria Especial do Meio Ambiente, the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP), Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas (CNPq), Fundaço Margaret Mee, IBM de Brasil and British Airways. Additional sponsorship was also received from H. Stern and Varig airlines.
Funding or support for individual delegates was generously provided by the following organizations: SWISS-AID, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Sociedade Botânica do Brasil, CNPq, the Latin American Botanical Association, Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis and the U.K. Overseas Development Administration (ODA) to whom the Congress organizers are very grateful.
The Congress was held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Rio de Janeiro and was attended by almost 500 delegates from about 35 countries. The conference organization was provided by a special local committee of the staff of the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, an agency, ML. Planejamento Cultural e Promoçoes Ltda, and the staff of Botanic Gardens Conservation International.
The members of the local committee were as follows:
Hotel bookings and accommodation, post-Congress excursions, Brazilian delegate registrations, conference room bookings, simultaneous interpretation facilities and many other aspects of the Congress were ably and efficiently managed by the agency ML Planejamento, under the direction of Ms Vera Bittencourt.
The preparation and distribution of pre-Congress circulars was undertaken by Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Arrangement for a special flight from London to Rio de Janeiro was arranged for delegates. BGCI also organized the registration of international delegates, made some hotel bookings and co-ordinated their pre-Congress arrangements. During the Congress, the registration of international delegates was conducted by Christine Allen and Etelka Leadlay.
BGCI staff present at the Congress were as follows:
The opening of the Congress was addressed by:
A message from HRH The Prince of Wales, Patron of Botanic Gardens Conservation International was read. During the ceremony Dr Alexandre Carlos Pinheiro Fernandes inaugurated a special postage stamp cancellation to be used for the period of the Congress.
Messages of greeting on behalf of collaborating organizations were given by Dr Roy L. Taylor, American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta; Dra Angela Leiva, Asociación Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Jardines Botánicos; Dr Enrique Forero, Asociación Latinoamericana de Botánica and Prof. Kunio Iwatsuki, International Association of Botanical Gardens.
Following the opening ceremony, three keynote addresses were delivered: on botanic gardens and their future priorities plant conservation in response to global change, by Prof. V.H. Heywood (BGCI); the role of botanic gardens and plant science, by Prof. G.T. Prance (Kew); and the comparative approaches of botanic gardens in different regions to plant conservation by Prof. K. Iwatsuki (Tokyo). A fourth keynote address on "Botanic gardens and the conservation unit: an essential relationship" was delivered later during the Congress by Dr Wanderbilt Duarte de Barros (Rio de Janeiro).
In the evening a reception was given in the Sheraton Hotel for Congress delegates, hosted by the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro.
During the following days the plenary sessions of the Congress were held as follows:
a) Funding, development and conservation priorities of botanic gardens
Chair - Prof. David Ingram (Edinburgh)
The use of modern management techniques in botanic gardens was discussed. Such techniques can be helpful in strengthening individual botanic garden institutions, by the development of strategic and corporate plans for their operation. New emphasis was being given gardens to attracting funds from industry and private sources, as well as from governments agencies. Concern was widely expressed at widespread problems that botanic gardens faced in finding sufficient funds to undertake their urgent conservation work.
Discussion focussed on the part that botanic gardens can play in the conservation and sustainable utilization of economic plant resources, including medicinal plants. Delegates recognized that the collection, conservation, assessment and utilization of plant genetic resources was a relevant field for botanic gardens and one which could help them to attract considerable new funding for their programmes. In addition, the need for botanic gardens to become advocates for, and active participants in, the formulation and implementation of national germplasm conservation strategies was stressed.
The successful constitution of several new regional and national botanic garden networks was discussed and the importance of their developing plant conservation strategic and action plans noted. The acute shortage of finance for such network organizations was mentioned. The hope was expressed that well considered approaches by botanic gardens, in co-operation with their co-ordinating network organizations and other non-garden conservation institutions, to national and international agencies would increasingly result in new resources becoming available for plant conservation, particularly in this post-UNCED time.
The Congress focussed on the need for the development of a strong new network of botanic garden seed banks and the demand for many more well-constituted and organized genebanks for wild species in botanic gardens. The value of linking botanic gardens efforts with those of the formal genetic resource conservation sector, including IBPGR, was stressed. Several different institutional approaches to germplasm bank development were reviewed.
The role of horticulture in the preservation of rare and endangered wild plants was considered by the speakers. They highlighted the need for well planned practical action and the close involvement of horticulturists at all stages during species conservation programmes. Horticultural research needs were discussed, including the further development of techniques particularly relevant to conservation, such as micropropagation, conventional propagation, seed germination and pollination biology.
The need for botanic gardens to be more actively involved in in situ biodiversity management was focussed on during this session. Activities such as integrating off-site plant conservation efforts with in situ priorities were regarded as especially important. But this must continue alongside the development of gardens' roles in undertaking floristic surveys, taxonomic study and the actual management of natural areas either directly or in close co-operation with other land management agencies.
Several case studies of how botanic gardens are involved in reintroduction experiments and programmes were outlined. The importance of following a series of agreed guidelines was stressed. Furthermore, delegates agreed that the importance of undertaking reintroduction or habitat restoration as part of a planned and agreed species recovery programme was essential.
During this session the speakers described the wide range of vegetation types in Brazil and outlined the primary conservation considerations and priorities for each. It was pointed out that today Brazil has 123 conservation units (protected areas) at federal level, adding up to a total 20,920,945 ha, but that this is not enough to ensure the preservation of the landscapes and species in their natural habitats, since it amounts to only 1.7% of the country's territory. Although botanic gardens already hold a prominent position in Brazil in regard to plant conservation, their present low number (15) and state of development are in urgent need of expansion to allow them to contribute more significantly to biodiversity conservation in Brazil.
Since the last Congress, three years ago, it was evident that education is firmly on the agenda for botanic gardens. Speakers illustrated the diversity of programmes that exist in botanic gardens already and the importance of education for conservation. It was stressed that there was a need for botanic gardens to be clear about their message and target audienceS. Attention was focussed on the lack of financial support for large and small gardens alike and how this could be alleviated, to some extent, by networking. Support was shown for the work of the BGCI Education Programme and the development of a strategy for environmental education in botanic gardens was welcolmed.
The session focussed on recent developments in plant records management, especially computer applications. Concern was expressed that although significant advances had been achieved since the last Congress, still too few botanic gardens recognized the need to, or had been able to develop comprehensive data systems for their living plant collections, or were contributing their data to co-ordinating and monitoring databases. Attention was drawn to the new and greater availability of special software programmes for botanic gardens in several languages, for applications such as garden maintenance and for the management of national or regional botanic garden databases.
A total of 49 twenty-minute addresses were given by the invited speakers during these plenary sessions.
Throughout the Congress an excellent simultaneous interpretation service was provided in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish by the team of interpreters, under the management of Vera Moyna.
On 22 October a full-day excursion was made to the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro to see the collections, facilities and work of the Garden. This day was organized by the local Congress committee, under the chairmanship of Geisa Lauro Ferreira. Delegates visited the herbarium, seed laboratory, and library, as well as an exhibition on the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic Forest) ecosystem display in the Garden's museum. A buffet lunch was provided for delegates in the centre of the Garden. In the afternon a tree was planted beside the Gardens's insectivorous plant house to mark the occasion of the Congress. The species planted was Myracrodendron urundeuva (Anacardiaceae), native to the Atlantic Forest region surrounding Rio de Janeiro. An address was given by Dr Peter Wyse Jackson (BGCI). The planting was undertaken by a young child, assisted by Dr Wyse Jackson and Dr Wanderbilt Duarte de Barros (Rio de Janeiro) to symbolise the importance of plant conservation to the well-being of the planet and to safeguarding our children's futures.
On 23 October, the whole day was spent by delegates in a series of simultaneous workshops on the following topics:
1. Plant documentation and records in botanic gardens
Coordinators - Eduardo Dalcin (Rio de Janeiro), Diane Wyse Jackson (BGCI), Dr David Michener (Ann Arbor), Dr Kerry Walter (WCMC).
2. Botanic gardens and practical horticulture
Coordinators - Susan Wallace (Bok Tower), Dr Etelka Leadlay (BGCI)
3. Education and environmental awareness: developing a Botanic Gardens Education Strategy
Coordinators - Carmelita Santoro Bottino (Rio de Janeiro), Gail Bromley (Kew), Nieves Gonzales (Las Palmas), Terry Keller (New York), Pamela Pirio (St Louis), Andrew Smith (Hobart), Francisco Villamandos (Córdoba), Julia Willison (BGCI)
4. Botanic gardens in Latin America: what is their future role?
Coordinators - Hermes Cuadros (Cartágena), Dr Enrique Forero (New York), Edelmira Linares (Mexico City), Sergio Zalba (Bahia Blanca)
5. Botanic Gardens and Plant Trade
Co-ordinators - Margarita Clemente Muñoz (Córdoba), Anthony Lamb (Sabah), Noel McGough (Kew), Mark Richardson (Canberra), Andrew Vovides (Xalapa)
6. Botanic gardens and plant re-introductions
Coordinators - Vernon H. Heywood (BGCI), Mike Maunder (Kew)
7. Plant conservation methodologies
b) In situ plant conservation for botanic gardens. Coordinator - Bráulio F.S. Dias (IBGE/IBAMA)
c) Seed banking/ex situ plant conservation for botanic gardens. Coordinator - Lidio Coradin (CENARGEN/EMBRAPA)
The Plant Trade workshop also represented the second meeting of the international Botanic Gardens Plant Trade Commission, a group formed in 1992 by BGCI, with the assistance of funding from WWF-International, to promote, highlight and guide the role of botanic gardens in the plant trade, especially in helping to increase their involvement in the implementation of CITES.
On completion of the workshops, the co-ordinators of each workshop prepared a summary of the deliberations and subsequent conclusions of each which were copied and made available to all delegates at the first session on 24 October, to review the workshop conclusions. This session was chaired by Dr David Bramwell (Las Palmas). A report on each workshop was presented to this session which was followed by discussions. The texts of these summaries are given later in this report. Prof. V.H. Heywood gave a summing up address reporting on the activities of BGCI since the last Congress held in April, 1989 (Ile de la Réunion).
An extensive poster session accompanied the scientific programme of plenary addresses. This session focussed primarily on research aspects of botanic gardens' conservation work and on the facilities and organization of many of Brazil's botanic gardens. The poster session was organized by Tânia Sampaio Pereira.
An exhibition outlining the work of the Margaret Mee Foundation was also mounted in the Sheraton Hotel conference suite for the duration of the Congress.
During the Congress evening satellite meetings were held of the IUCN Species Survival Commission - Brazilian Plant Specialist Group and Reintroductions Specialist Group and of the Rede Brasileiros de Jardins Botânicos (RBJB) on research in Brazilian botanic gardens; environmental education and the Brazilian botanic garden; Brazilian botanic garden legislation and plant documentation and records in botanic gardens. The BGCI video "Variety - the key to life" was also shown.
In addition, a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Botanic Gardens Conservation International was held prior to the start of the Congress, under the chairmanship of Prof. David Ingram (Edinburgh).
The closing session of Congress was addressed by Dr Wanderbilt Darte de Barros on behalf of the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; Dr Bráulio Ferreira Dias, on behalf of IBAMA; Professor Vernon Heywood and Dr Peter Wyse Jackson, on behalf of BGCI. Dr Esteban Hernandez Bermejo (Córdoba) offered a vote of thanks to the organizers on behalf of the Congress delegates. A representative of IBM-Brasil, a major sponsor of the Congress, also attended. Presentations were made to Dr Wanderbilt Duarte de Barros and to Geisa Lauro Ferreira and Tânia Sampaio Pereira by Prof. Heywood and Dr Wyse Jackson on behalf of BGCI.
That evening, 24 October, the Congress dinner was held at the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club, hosted by the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. The following day a Congress excursion was held for delegates to visit various important Atlantic Forest sites near Rio de Janeiro, led by Dr Haroldo Cavalcante de Lima, Head of the Atlantic Forest Programme of the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro.
The Congress received extensive coverage in the national media in Brazil and was featured in several daily television programes and newspaper reports and articles.
The organizers wish to extend their thanks to all the many sponsors and participants who contributed to make the Third International Botanic Gardens Conservation Congress a major event for botanic gardens worldwide, helping in a significant way to define the botanic garden urgent agenda for practical biodiversity conservation action for the coming years.
Preface | Contents List | Congress Report | Workshop Conclusions | List of Authors