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Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2005 Annual Report
Scientific Research
Since its inception, 95 years ago, Brooklyn Botanic Garden has been dedicated to conducting and disseminating botanical research. As such research declines at some universities, it is vital that botanic gardens help reinvigorate this field of study, which is critical to our future. By the beginning of the next century, it is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the world's plant species could be lost forever. Right now, one in eight of the estimated 270,000 plant species in existence is endangered. Yet many people only have a vague understanding that plants are essential to our daily lives. Therefore, BBG is working to increase public awareness of the importance of studying, protecting, and preserving plant life. Its efforts to do so—by strengthening and expanding its research, publication, and library capability—received numerous acknowledgments over the past year.