FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14, 2004

CONTACT

Michele Hujber/Cook College & NJAES Resource Center: 732-932-9559
Leeann Lavin/Brooklyn Botanic Garden: 718-623-7289
Andrea Kotuk/Andrea & Associates: 212-353-9585

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Botanists And Rutgers University Ecologists Win Competition To Plan Beijing Olympics Forest Park

Brooklyn, NY — April 14, 2004—Botanists from Brooklyn Botanic Garden and ecologists at Rutgers' Cook College & New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) have been selected as the winning team in the international competition to design the new Forest Park for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. The ecologists and botanists are affiliated with the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), collaboration between Rutgers ecologists and Brooklyn Botanic Garden botanists. Working in partnership with Sasaki Associates, the eminent landscape architecture and planning company, the CURE team formulated the ecological basis of the new park, including lake, stream, meadow and woodland habitats. They received the Award of Excellence in the competition for the natural landscaping of the 2,200 acre site—about three times the size of New York City's Central Park. Their plan is now being implemented on the vast site.

There were 51 competitors, worldwide, judged by a jury reporting to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning. CURE was invited to contribute the ecological and botanical components of the competition entry by Sasaki Associates, based in Boston, which coordinated the competition entry. In addition, the Tsinghua University Urban Planning and Design Institute in Beijing is part of the team, providing design and administrative functions.

"The complex ecological design aims to maximize biodiversity on this site, which is surrounded by the huge city," says Steven Handel, director of CURE. "Solving issues of reintroduction of native plants and animals, habitat fragmentation, invasive species control, water management, and plant-animal interactions is critical for long-term success."

Steven Clemants, Ph.D., Vice President of Science, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and Codirector, Center for Urban Restoration Ecology, adds "This is a great opportunity to not only create a park, but also to better understand what the native biodiversity of the region is and to introduce the citizens of Beijing to that biodiversity." According to Handel, "A key part of the CURE proposal is for capacity building, which will be accomplished through continuing education courses to train the next generation of Chinese land managers in the principles of restoration ecology." In addition, he explained, "University exchanges and scientific workshops are also being planned for sharing skills between United States and Chinese scientists. Along with funds from the Beijing organizers, it is hoped that various international foundations and agencies will support the training activities.

"The Games are scheduled for August 2008, and much of the park must be built by then for the enjoyment and education of the thousands of visitors to the Games," Handel continues. "The park will then become a central feature of Beijing's natural environment, adding ecological services and biodiversity to the capitol of the world's most populous country. The park will be a major tourist attraction, exhibiting the natural history of Beijing, and will complement the many cultural sites of the ancient city."

The ecologists, botanists and landscape designers will work together in groups that address plant, animal and landscape issues. The team draws upon the expertise of faculty from a broad assortment of disciplines at Rutgers, Cook College & NJAES, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Michigan State University, Beijing University and Tsinghua University. Participants include Rutgers faculty from CURE; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute; and Cook College's Departments of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources; Plant Biology; Environmental Sciences and Landscape Architecture. CURE is one of the first centers of its kind that is dedicated to restoring and enhancing the ecological integrity of degraded urban and suburban lands.