• Mobile version
  • Follow us on Wechat
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • App

South China Botanical Garden more deeply involved in global plant diversity conservation

In the future, South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) will be more deeply involved in global plant diversity conservation and strive towards the goal of protecting over 20,000 species of plants, Ren Hai, director of SCBG, announced at a press conference on July 4.

The protected plants include 6,000 species of economic plants. 95% of rare and endangered species in South China will be effectively ex-situ conserved, providing original plant resources for green development.

Plant specimens in the Herbarium of SCBG. (Photo: GDToday)

Towards an international biodiversity & environmental research center 

SCBG has been committed to researching and protecting plants in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Its subjects of botany, ecology and agronomy are ranked in the top 1% around the globe.

On May 30, the State Council approved a plan to establish the South China National Botanical Garden on the basis of the existing SCBG.

According to Ren, SCBG will usher in a higher level of transformation in the next five years. "We plan to build a national plant resource conservation and sustainable utilization base as well as an international research center for plant diversity conservation and ecological restoration."

Building a South China Germplasm Resource Bank and enhancing its ex-situ conservation capability will provide a benchmark against which the SCBG's progress and transformation can be measured. To achieve this goal, SCBG has mapped out to set up a research platform for plant ex situ conservation and utilization. It will also recruit more international talents and further deepen research based on live plant collections.

A special lotus species in SCBG - Victoria water lily. The diameter of its lotus leaf can be up to 2 meters, and it can safely carry a child weighing 30 kg. (Photo: GDToday)

Li Xiaochuan, president of the Guangdong Academy of Forestry, believes that SCBG will drive the development of industries such as science popularization and tourism, and provide assistance for other related industries, especially for species exploitation and utilization by southern pharmaceutical companies as well as some rural companies.

A larger sightseeing area

At present, there are 38 specialized areas in SCBG, including Magnolia Garden, Palm Garden, Ginger Garden, etc. SCBG plans to further include the scientific research area, exhibition area and surrounding municipal facilities into its reconstruction scope. Its core functional area will reach 319 hectares in the future.

A natural education base will be established to increase the number of the garden's annual tourists from 1.6 million in 2021 to more than 3 million.

"The future target group of SCBG will not only be local tourists in Guangzhou, but also visitors from the whole Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," said Wang Ying, director of the Horticultural Center of SCBG. "We are planning the tourism program integrating plants and culture as well as some characteristic night tours in the garden."

Wang emphasized after expansion, SCBG will serve primary and secondary school students, parent-child families as well as middle-aged and elderly tourists, meeting the needs of tourists of different ages.

Plants in the tropical rainforest greenhouse of SCBG. (Photo: GDToday)

Labels are attached to the plants in the Rare and Endangered Plant Breeding Center of SCBG. The QR code on the label records the basic information and growth situation of the plant. (Photo: GDToday)

Author: Ariel

Editor: Wing, Keane, Monica, Jerry

Related News