3GBGC - Reports From Wuhan

BGCI’s roving reporter for the Congress, Sarah Kneebone, kept a diary of the event as it unfolded.
Read her daily reports of the news from the 3rd Global Botanic Garden Congress in Wuhan, below.

Sunday 15th April

Celebrating 70 years of plant conservation success

Dancers, music, lights and feasting accompanied celebrations on Sunday night for the 20th anniversary of BGCI and the 50th anniversary of Wuhan Botanic Garden, the hosts of the third global botanic gardens congress... more

Monday 16th April 2007

Order from Chaos - bringing meaning to plant conservation in today's world

The first full day of the congress dawned bright and sunny with a low haze over the spectacular lake opposite the congress centre in Wuhan. Delegates ushered in to the centre's main hall for the official welcome ceremony and plenaries were taken aback by it's scale... more

Tuesday 17th April

Maximising effects - International Agendas, Conservation Action and Paradigm Shifts

Climate change was a major focus today, with both afternoon sessions and a plenary from David Bramwell of the Viera y Clavijo Botanic Garden in the Canary Isles - site of the Second Gran Canaria Declaration, investigating the role of botanic gardens in addressing climate change... more

Wednesday 18th April

Day Tripper

Day three of the congress saw delegates rising early to be whisked on a magical mystery tour of Wuhan city. Grant, our jovial and informative guide, made the perfect host for the day's events... more

Thursday 19th April

Building in progress - increasing training and developing sustainable sites

Following the night of festivities, Thursday started with a series of excellent keynote speeches. Prof Ma Keping, the director general of the Institute of Botany within the Chinese Academy of Sciences spoke about the importance of China's biodiversity... more

Friday 20th April

That was the week that was

The final day of the congress arrived unexpectedly soon, amid a flurry of checking out, photographs, meetings and exchanges of emails... more

Congress Summary

For me, the lasting impressions from the congress are of the immense energy and dedication within the botanic gardens world to plant conservation... more

Challenges in Botanical Research and Climate Change

The 2nd World Botanic Gardens Scientific Congresswill be held in Delft, the Netherlands, on 29 June - 4 July 2008. The main themes are Conservation and Climate Change, Bionics, New Systematics and Future Issues. Registration for those wishing to contribute a paper is 15 December

Liz's Trip to China

As the Curatorial Intern at The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, Elizabeth Haegele was offered the chance to travel. She chose to join the BGCI Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan and this is her blog about the experience.

See Wuhan Pictures on Flickr

BGCI has posted pictures from the conference on Flickr. You can share yours with us there too. Take a look and see who you can spot.

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