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Brooklyn Botanic Garden 2006 Annual Report
Conservation and Restoration
Brooklyn Botanic Garden continues its deep commitment to conservation at the local, regional, and global levels, as well as to educating the public about the importance of plant diversity to ecosystem health and human life. Over the past year, BBG has played a major role in building coalitions among organizations dedicated to conservation and restoration.
Invasive purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), top, has been declared a noxious weed in many states. Fireweed, below, is a native alternative.
This year BBG again hosted the U.S. office of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI-US). By bringing together the world's botanic gardens, BGCI-US seeks to create a broad community that works in partnership to achieve conservation and education goals—in particular, to raise awareness of the importance of plant conservation among the 200 million people who visit botanic gardens every year. In December 2005, Dr. Steven Clemants was named president of the board of BGCI-US, and BBG president Scot Medbury was appointed to the international board of BGCI.
In April, BCGI-US launched Planet Plant (www.PlanetPlant.org), a website for young people ages 9 to 12. Plant characters introduce Planet Plant Explorers to new plants. Explorers earn points for completing science activities, art projects, and book reports. These points are redeemable for plant character T-shirts and bookmarks, and participants are able to vote for a charity to receive support from BCGI.
BGCI-US staff participated in workshops held at three regional conferences sponsored by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA), as well as the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation, in Dublin. BGCI-US also began a formal partnership with the National Gardening Association to promote National Gardening Month in April, prepared the next printing for the Plant Conservation Checklist for Gardeners, and developed an interactive assessment tool for the International Agenda for Botanic Garden Conservation.
Through Plant Conservation Day, BGCI–US partners with botanic gardens and zoos across the U.S. to promote the importance of plants as the backbone of life on earth and an essential resource for human well-being.
In May, BGCI-US partnered with the Association of Zoological Horticulture to celebrate Plant Conservation Day, launching a special website (www.plantconservationday.org). BGCI-US also sponsored a national radio-interview tour featuring former Publications director Janet Marinelli and her award-winning book, Plant: The Ultimate Visual Reference to Plants and Flowers of the World.
BBG, in collaboration with the NYC Parks Department, is participating in the Seeds of Success program, coordinated by the Plant Conservation Alliance and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This program seeks to coordinate seed collection of native plant populations in the United States to increase the number of species and amount of native seed available for use in stabilizing, rehabilitating, and restoring lands. BBG and the NYC Parks Department are responsible for collecting seed from local populations of 100 native species. The Garden, in partnership with the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC), is also responsible for collecting seed for three globally rare species: sea beach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus), sensitive-joint vetch (Aeschynomene virginica), and chaffseed (Schwalbea americana).
Dr. Clemants was elected chair of the Invasive Plant Council of New York State. In that role, as well as through his position on the New York State Invasive Species Taskforce, he helped develop the taskforce's invasive species report, sent to Governor Pataki in November, which resulted in an appropriation of $3.25 million for invasive species work in New York State. Dr. Clemants also served as president of the Nature Network, an alliance of over 40 institutions from the tri-state area dedicated to nurturing a healthy environment in the region. Over the past year, the Nature Network expanded resource sharing among its members by designing a web resource and planning its next conference.
The Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), a joint venture between BBG and Rutgers University, continued to provide protocols for successful restoration of degraded urban environments. CURE collaborated on several restoration project proposals that have been accepted as finalists in the New Jersey Urban Parks Master Plan Design Competition, sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology's School of Architecture. Each project has a budget of $10 million. CURE also continued training students and professionals on restoration techniques and other issues affecting the urban environment and published the third issue of Urban Habitats (see "Publications").