Government College University, Lahore Botanic Garden (BGGC)
Institution Code: LAHOR
BGCI Member: Yes
ArbNet Accredited: Level I
About the Government College University, Lahore Botanic Garden (BGGC)
GCBG was established in 1912 and this is the oldest Botanic Garden of Pakistan.The Garden is also the "Secretariat of Pakistan Botanic Gardens Network". The Garden is well connected both inside and abroad. For the last three years the collaborative project with BGCI is being carried out here which focuses on the restoration of Dry land ecosystems in Punjab.
Main Address:
Government College University, Lahore Botanic Garden (BGGC)
Department of Botany, Government College University
Katchery Road
Lahore
Punjab 54000 Pakistan
Telephone: (92 42) 111000010/256,257, (92 42 6118849) (92 42 6118849)
Fax: (92 42) 9213341
URL: www.gcu.edu.pk/Botn.htm
Primary Email: botanicgarden@gcu.edu.pk
Restoration of Dryland Ecosystems in Pakistan
BGCI is working with the Government College University to restore the heavily degraded drylands of southeastern Pakistan (Punjab province). Pilot projects have been established to restore the increasingly rare scrub thorn and flood plain thorn forests, whose dominant tree species are commonly cut down for fuel wood and construction. A pilot project is also underway in the tropical dry deciduous forest, much of which has been cleared for farmland.
As most dryland trees are slow growing, restoring these unique ecosystems to their original grandeur and productivity will take several hundred years. Professor Amin Khan has been working on the conservation of these unique ecosystems for over 25 years. The hard work required in the face of very challenging political and socio-economic circumstances makes this project all the more compelling as a symbol of hope for the future.
Over the past four years, BGCI and Government College University and Botanic Garden, Lahore, have been successfully implementing a trial restoration initiative in the dry forests of Pakistan’s Punjab province. The achievements and challenges of this work are presented in the joint publication Dry Woodlands in Pakistan’s Punjab Province – Piloting restoration of a unique yet vanishing natural resource, which can be downloaded here.
In their initial stages of establishment, the saplings of Acacia modesta - which are particularly susceptible to browsing by rodents - and Olea ferrunginea are protected with branches of dodonaea viscosa. A regular planting pattern has been adopted to facilitate monitoring.