News published: 02 April 2026

The Marsh Awards 2026 – Winners Announced!

On an annual basis, BGCI operates The Marsh Awards for International Plant Conservation and Botanic Garden Education sponsored by The Marsh Charitable Trust.

The Marsh Charitable Trust was established in 1981 and runs a portfolio of awards which recognise the contribution of dedicated individuals working in different sectors – to improve the world we live in.

There are 2 awards available that offer professional recognition and a £1,000 prize. Potential awardees are nominated by their peers through the BGCI Membership network, and then the winners are judged by the BGCI International Advisory Council and the Marsh Charitable Trust.

The winners for 2026 are:

Marsh Award for International Plant Conservation – Amy Downie

Amy Downie is a Horticulturist at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Australia

Highlights from their nomination include:

Amy is redefining the boundaries of plant conservation through her pioneering practice of Escarpment Horticulture—a unique blend of abseiling, specialist horticulture and conservation science. Amy has developed this rare skillset to access cliff-dwelling species that are otherwise unreachable, enabling both in situ and ex situ conservation outcomes that would not be possible through conventional methods. At the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV), Amy has transformed the Grey Garden escarpment from an underperforming niche rocky outcrop into a thriving conservation site. Her meticulous planning including geological assessment, irrigation design and targeted weed management has created a resilient microhabitat now home to rare and threatened grey cliff dwelling species.

In October 2025, Amy played a pivotal role in the Eurobodalla Rare Flora Project to secure seed of the endangered Eucalyptus stenostoma —a species pushed to the brink after the 2019–20 Black Summer bushfires. The remaining E. stenostoma trees were located 90 metres down a sheer cliff face in isolated challenging terrain that made conventional collection impossible. With the species unable to reproduce from lignotubers, the work was both urgent and high-risk. Amy undertook further training out of work hours to increase knowledge and skillset in abseiling, including the logistics of equipment required
to retrieve seed while harnessed and balancing on a cliff face. As a result, Amy abseiled to reach the plants on steep escarpment above Tuross River in Wadbilliga National Park, successfully collecting seeds. Amy’s innovative, multidisciplinary approach including arboriculture, ecology and horticulture is not only safeguarding species on the brink but also defining the future of conservation horticulture.

Marsh Award for Education in Botanic Gardens – Eve Armstrong

Eve Armstrong is an Education Outreach Officer at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Highlights from their nomination include:

Over the last three years Eve has built up an extensive Scotland-wide outreach programme and has engaged 6,510 pupils in-person over 291 sessions. Pupils have loved Eve’s approach and session content, reflecting, ‘I think you just made me love plants!’ and ‘I feel like I have lots more respect for plants now I know how hard a job they have.’ Teachers have commented: ‘With more financial barriers for schools and families, we are struggling to enable children to visit places like the Botanics. Thank you so much for giving the children a taste of what it is like to be in the rainforest.’ Eve has visited 108 primary and secondary schools, enthusing pupils with topics such as Rainforests, Scottish Native Plants and Botanic Careers.

Eve has live-streamed 19 virtual lessons, reaching 11,730 pupils and enabling virtual visits to unique places like our Glasshouses, herbarium, plant nursery and herbology room. These interactive experiences have beamed into classrooms in 23 of 32 Scottish local authorities. Eve has always gone the extra mile to share the joy and importance of plants with pupils. Pupils, Science Festival staff, STEM partners and teachers all appreciate this dedication. Eve’s Plant Highlight video series has helped raise public awareness about the value of plant diversity – using iconic threatened plant species such as the Coco de Mer. Eve always finds innovative and creative ways to connect with pupils virtually and her videos have seen her don waders to film in a pond and borrow an infrared camera to map the heat emitted from a titan arum. Many of her online and in-person lessons encourage pupils to think about actions they could take to conserve biodiversity – from looking after their natural spaces in their home, school or local area to lobbying adults to take action.

Congratulations to both winners!

The winners will be honoured and receive their awards at two separate online events, details coming soon.