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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 26, 2009
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Leeann Lavin: 718-623-7289, leeannlavin@bbg.org
Kate Blumm: 718-623-7241, kateblumm@bbg.org
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Joins International Effort to Conserve Plants in Republic of Georgia
Brooklyn, New York—MAY 26, 2009—Brooklyn Botanic Garden's president, Scot Medbury, returns today from Georgia's capital of Tbilisi where he joined an international team that convened last week to develop a conservation strategy for some of the most threatened plants in the rugged south Caucasus region.
The workshop was cosponsored by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), a London-based alliance of 500 botanic gardens around the world, and the Tbilisi Botanical Garden. BGCI works internationally to initiate conservation practices where native plant life is experiencing rapid degradation.
“The flora of the Caucasus is phenomenally diverse and incredibly beautiful but is increasingly endangered for a variety of reasons,” said Sara Oldfield, secretary general of BGCI. “We're excited to be working with our Georgian colleagues to try to save rare species.”
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) has a long tradition of scientific exploration into the native flora of its increasingly urban region and pioneered the practice of engaging citizen scientists in plant surveys of densely populated terrain. BBG's Scot Medbury hopes to bring about an ongoing partnership with the Georgian botanic garden community, saying, “The Tbilisi Botanical Garden is a city garden, like ours, with strong links to its community. We look forward to exploring how we might partner in ways that strengthen both of our institutions, through sharing digital plant databases, supporting field work, and more .”
The BGCI team included Medbury, BGCI's Sara Oldfield, Dr. David Rae from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland, and BGCI's director of regional programs, Joachim Gratzfield. Representatives from regional botanic gardens throughout Georgia also participated.