News published: 13 February 2023

Towards the end of January, BGCI Secretary General, Paul Smith, and Assistant Officer, Miles Kitching, held a workshop in Addis Ababa on collections data management and data sharing in botanic gardens. Nineteen participants hailing from Ethiopia, Somaliland, and Uganda attended the workshop with great enthusiasm and fruitful discussion.

Participants participated in sessions introducing data management and its importance, on connecting plants to their data, on digital data management and on the value of botanic gardens sharing resources with other gardens. These were followed by demonstrations of BGCI’s Data Tools, including GardenSearch, the Climate Assessment Tool, and PlantConnect. The workshop was interspersed with opportunities for lively discussion on data management and maintenance, bringing together the knowledge and experiences of participants who presented their conclusions for group reflection.

The workshop was enhanced by a look at vouchers held in Ethiopia’s National Herbarium, demonstrating proper specimen preparation and the diversity of native flora in the country, and a visit to Gullele Botanic Garden with informative guidance around the grounds and holdings. Gullele is Ethiopia’s oldest botanic garden and provided a valuable example to workshop attendees, among whom there was a great amount of discourse.

The workshop was a great success, with excellent engagement, plenty learnt and an eagerness for greater collaboration across botanic institutions in Ethiopia and beyond. This culminated in an expressed intention to establish a regional botanic garden network between those institutions in attendance. Feedback thus far has included sentiments of being “well informed about…data sharing tools”, enjoying discussion “filled with so much knowledge”, that the “wonderful training” was “an eye opener to do more in the future” and hopes that participants will “keep in touch and establish a strong relationship”.

BGCI would like to thank all in attendance, particularly Professor Sebsebe Demissew for his support and organisation, Melaku Wondafrash for his herbarium vouchers demonstration, and the staff of Gullele Botanic Garden for providing a tour of their living collections.