16. Earth Day Celebration at UBC Botanical
Garden, Nadine Diner, UBC Botanical Garden
Photo: UBC Botanical Garden |
The UBC Botanical Garden is Canada's oldest continuously operating
university botanical garden, established in 1916 under the directorship
of John Davidson. The original mission of the garden was research
into the native flora of British Columbia. Since its inception,
the mission of the Garden has broadened. Our collections now include
over 8000 different plants from around the globe in 12 000 separate
accessions. Many of these plants are wild-collected. Our mandate
has also broadened to include the use of our collections for the
purposes of research, conservation, teaching and public display.
We find opportunities in all Garden initiatives to connect these
themes.
The Garden’s recent Community Earth Day Celebration provides
one example of these thematic connections. The free event included
an environmental exposition to showcase green services, information
and retail options; Pollination Street kids crafts and educational
activities; garden tours; and the Solar Power Roadshow Sustainable
Magic Show. The event provided an opportunity to invite the community
for the spring opening of the Garden while educating the public
about our mandates; most notably conservation and biodiversity were
highlighted.
Conservation and biodiversity were discussed throughout the Earth
Day Celebration. At the indoor environmental exposition, a Garden
staff member was available to discuss conservation at the garden
in the form of our contributions to the Canadian national seed bank,
our living collections of wild-sourced rare plants, and our studies
of evolution and biodiversity at the Centre for Plant Research.
This staff member also distributed information such as ‘A
Plant Conservation Checklist For Gardeners’ from Botanic Gardens
Conservation International.
Other exhibitors at the exposition included The Greater Vancouver
Invasive Plant Council and The Land Conservancy. The Greater Vancouver
Invasive Plant Council discussed how invasive plants threaten ecosystems
and reduce biodiversity, and that citizens can combat this problem
by removing invasive species to be replaced with native plants.
The Land Conservancy motivated the public regarding the protection
of habitats for plants, animals and natural communities. They also
shared success stories of locations they’ve protected and
are currently working to save (West Creek Wetlands, Thwaytes Landing).
Conservation and biodiversity were also the topic of garden tours,
and the Pollination Street kids activities. On garden tours, the
public enjoyed the opportunity to view first-hand our collections
as living examples of our commitment to conservation, while being
guided by the Horticultural Manager and the Associate Director of
the Garden. On Pollination Street, the children learned how pollinators
(bats, birds, bees and butterflies) can be perfectly suited for
the characteristics of certain flowers, how humans benefit from
pollination, and how to protect pollinators by providing natural
environments with appropriate food sources and shelter.
By all accounts, the event was a success. A reported 676 participants
attended the Earth Day Celebration from the Lower Mainland of British
Columbia. This opportunity to educate the public on the need for
a global understanding and respect for plants, their diversity and
significance in our lives, and the urgent need for conservation
of natural habitats and green spaces was warmly welcomed by the
attendees. We received some wonderful feedback from the community,
which has fuelled our interest to make this a yearly event at the
Garden.
Earth Day Comments
“With respect to the Earth Day Celebration, I thought this
event went very well. My daughter, 3 1/2 years old, enjoyed the
activities very much. She particularly enjoyed making the masks,
pollinating the flowers and learning how to make the pinecone bird
feeder. We had a wonderful time and found the day and the activities
both fun and educational.”
“I completed the scavenger hunt with my friends, even though
we are all adults. I liked the fact that there was an adult prize
and a children's prize at the end. I also was pleased to see a place
where you could become a Garden member and took the opportunity
to join. The highlight of the whole event was having a ride on the
battery powered bikes and the segway. That was awesome! One item
that particularly stood out was the concept of “food miles”
and the notion that sometimes it is better to buy local even if
it is not organic.
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Yann Vergriete
Project coordinator
Institut de recherche en biologie végétale
The Montréal Botanical Garden
4101, rue Sherbrooke Est
Montréal (Québec) H1X 2B2
CANADA
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