Jardín Botánico del Soconusco of ECOSUR

Search again Edit this page
Mexico - Chiapas - Tapachula

Institution Code:

BGCI Member: Yes

About the Jardín Botánico del Soconusco of ECOSUR

Mexico is considered one of the five megadiverse countries of the world with 12% of global biodiversity, and the southeast of the country, where we are situated, connects with the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot. Within that scenario, Soconusco, in the extreme southeast of Mexico, includes one of the national priority regions for terrestrial biodiversity, the Tacaná-Boquerón corridor, which, in particular, is the second most important region for orchid species richness in Mexico, and one of the most important collections in this botanic garden is that of the Orchidaceae. The Soconusco region also coincides with all, or part of three Biosphere Reserves: Volcán Tacaná, La Encrucijada and El Triunfo.
Development of the Botanical Garden of the Soconusco Region (BGSR) started in 1994, in a one hectare abandoned cocoa plantation, at 80 m, in the municipality of Tuzantán on the coastal plain of Chiapas. This garden is dedicated to the vegetation of the Soconusco region in general, with a growing collection of well over 600 species represented, several of which are still to be identified, and including 200 orchid species. The annex to the garden, and more specifically the mid-altitude orchid collection, Orchidarium ‘Santo Domingo’, was set up several years later, in 2008, in the municipality of Unión Juárez, at 1,100 m in a plot covering nearly a third of a hectare near the Tacaná Volcano. There has been little funding available for the development of our botanical garden, but technicians and students have helped at different times with planting, maintenance, pest control, inventories and various scientific studies.
We include a preliminary plant list, as we have many species still to be identified. The sp. included are those that are the only representatives of their genera. Our collections include several endangerd species (our list is based on the Mexican NOM-ECOL-059-2019), and we also include introduced species which are now common in gardens and cultivated areas, and are now effectively part of the Soconuscan landscape.

Main Address:
Jardín Botánico del Soconusco of ECOSUR
Carretera Antiguo Aeropuerto km. 2.5
Tapachula
Chiapas 30700 Mexico

Telephone: 962 628 9800 ext. 5300
Fax:
URL: www.ecosur.mx
Primary Email: adamon@ecosur.mx

Staff Details

  • Director's Name: María del Carmen Pozo de la Tijera
    Curator's Name: Anne Damon
    Plant Records Officer's Name: Wilber Sánchez Ortiz
  • Total Staff:
    Horticultural Staff Number: 1
    Educational Staff Number:
    Research Staff Number: 1
    Administration Staff Number:

About the Garden

  • Institution Type: Botanic Garden
  • Status
  • Status: Private: No
    Status: State: Yes
    Status: Educational: Yes
    Status: Municipal: No
    Status: Satellite: Yes
    Status: Trust: No
  • Date founded: 1994
  • Physical Data
  • Landscaped Area: Yes
    Landscaped Area: Size: 1 Hectares
  • Total Area: 1 Hectares
    Latitude: 14.9113552
    Longitude: -92.3129811
    Annual Rainfall: 3000 mm
    Altitude: 80.00 Metres
    Total area of shadehouses: 20 Metres
  • Additional Locations
  • Satellite Garden Names: Orquideario "Santo Domingo"
  • Locality: Information
  • Locality: Garden Name: Jardín Botánico Regional del Soconusco
  • Local Address: La Guardianía, municipio de Tuzantán
  • Locality: City: Tuzantán
  • Locality: State: Chiapas

Features and Facilities

  • Herbarium: Yes
    Herbarium: Number of Specimens: 1200
    Arboretum: Yes
    Arboretum Size: 1
  • Micropropagation/ Tissue Culture Facilities: Yes
    Seed Bank: No
    Published Plant Catalogue: No
    Computer Plant Record System: Yes
  • Open to public: Yes
    Friends society: No
    Retail Outlet: Shop: No
    Retail Outlet: Plant Sales: No
    Disabled access: Yes
  • Number of Visitors: 300
    Number of Volunteers: 1

Plant Collections

  • Accession Number: 900
    Cultivation Taxa Num: 600
  • Special Collections:We will complete this information later. Meanwhile, we include a provisional plant list.
  • Invasive Species Monitoring: Yes
    Invasive Species Policy: No
    ABS Policy: No
    Plant Collection Policy: Yes

Conservation Programmes

  • Conservation Programme: Yes
    Medicinal Plant Programme: No
    Ex Situ Conservation Programme: Yes
    Reintroduction Programme: Yes

Research Programmes

  • Biotechnology: No
    Plant Breeding: No
    Conservation - Biology: Yes
    Conservation - Genetics: No
    Data Management Systems and Information Technology: No
    Ecology: Yes
    Ecosystem Conservation: Yes
    Education: Yes
    Ethnobotany: Yes
    Exploration: Yes
    Floristics: Yes
    Horticulture: Yes
    Invasive Species Biology and Control: No
    Molecular Genetics: No
    Pollination Biology: Yes
    Restoration Ecology: Yes
    Seed/Spore Biology: No
    Systematics and Taxonomy: Yes
    Sustainability: Yes
    Pharmacology: No
    Agriculture: No
    Land Restoration: No
    Urban Environments: No

Education Programmes

  • Visitor/Education Centre: No
    Education Signs in Garden: Yes
    Public Lectures/Talks: Yes
    Education Booklets/Leaflets: Yes
    Guided Tours: Yes
    Permanent Public Displays: Yes
    Special Exhibitions: No
    Courses for School Children: Yes
    Courses for University/College Students: Yes
    Courses for General Public: Yes
    Education Programme: No