Paper short abstract:

We know our past, our present but the future is yet undecided, we have lived alongside all life from the dawn of our existence and yet it is the last few hundred years that we encounter challenges which threaten our future. Our future rests in our relationship with First Nations and with the land.

Paper long abstract:

My name is Jakobi and I invite you to come along on a journey with me as we explore our past, present, and future.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are a part of the oldest continuing cultures in the world, our presence on the Australian continent spans tens of thousands of years. We have a uniquely deep connection and understanding of our lands, waters, plants, and animals. Our stories span back to a time when these lands were formed and as the oceans rose and receded, and these stories connect the past to our present. Our old people held these stories which they passed down to us, from one generation to another. All First Nation cultures hold a unique understanding of their respective lands and waters, knowledge that is put into practice; as our ancestors had done before us, we do now to care and heal the land.

Botanic institutions hold knowledge and understanding, they also have a long history entwined with the colonisation of First Nations lands and waters. Colonisation has led to the appropriation of our knowledge, economic wealth, and resources. Colonisation continues to impact our cultures through the destruction of the natural world and in many other ways. It is important that we acknowledge this and actively work towards rectifying the relationship we have with First Nations communities, as well as with the land. It is also important we create opportunities for deep collaboration and sharing of our knowledges to benefit all people and the land.

Paper short abstract:

Starting with the Hawaiian creation story of Papahānaumoku, this talk will focus on several biocultural conservation case studies which could serve as a pathway towards creating the transformative change needed to protect the biocultural diversity of our planet earth.

Paper long abstract:

Due to its extreme isolation in the middle of the Pacific, Hawaii is often recognized for its high level of endemism and amazing examples adaptive radiation where a single founder might give rise to over 100 unique species. It is also recognized as a biodiversity hotspot and often called the endangered species capital of the world. Chartered in 1964 by the United States Congress as nonprofit NGO, the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) has worked for over 50 years to stop the extinction of native plant species in Hawaii and the Pacific. Founded as a science-based organization, NTBG has evolved over the past 30 years to embrace indigenous cultural knowledge and values and build partnerships with the native Hawaiian community that have allowed NTBG to create powerful and effective biocultural conservation programs and projects.

In 2005, NTBG changed its mission statement to include “… perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions” which created the mandate for NTBG to elevate the perpetuation of cultural knowledge to the same level as our efforts to prevent the extinction of plants!

Starting with the Hawaiian creation story of Papahānaumoku, this talk will focus on several biocultural conservation case studies which could serve as a pathway towards creating the transformative change needed to protect the biocultural diversity of our planet earth.

Paper short abstract:

Botanical gardens have long collected and preserved local and indigenous knowledge associated with their plant collections. Increasing the accessibility of this knowledge offers unique opportunities to support conservation of local and indigenous knowledge in partnership with communities.

Paper long abstract:

The Convention on Biological Diversity calls for parties to “respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity”. Botanical gardens have effected this not only through diverse plant collections but also through recording and sharing knowledge on plants used as foods, medicines, etc. Through gardens, local and indigenous knowledge — in the form of plant names, uses, cultivation techniques, and cultural values — has been incorporated into Western scientific nomenclature, medicine, and aesthetics. Ex situ conservation of knowledge continues in the wealth of information associated with botanical gardens’ living plants, herbarium specimens, and other collections, as well as in their active ethnobotanical research programs.

Modern botanic gardens, including the Missouri Botanical Garden, have sought to repatriate local and indigenous knowledge to support in situ conservation. A basic and broad method is increasing information availability, which is also a form of benefit sharing. Making data and knowledge available online in free and accessible formats dramatically increases their potential to support community involvement and use and helps to center local and indigenous knowledge in botanical science. More targeted methods include the translation of ethnobotanical information into appropriate formats including multi-lingual publications (online or in print), and/or audio-visual representations. Such knowledge sharing undertaken by botanical gardens can also support communities in which knowledge transmission has been interrupted. Networks that connect institutions to communities offer great future promise for new relationships that allow ongoing involvement.

Paper short abstract:

The Code of Conduct developed by the Mexican Association of Botanic Gardens, is a foundational instrument for harmonizing the multilateral relationships that occur when botanical gardens access wild plants and the potential traditional knowledge associated with them.

Paper long abstract:

In 2016, the Mexican Association of Botanic Gardens (MABG) published its “Code of Conduct for Access and Benefit Sharing of Plant Biodiversity”, as a collaboration with Mexican Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH), inside the project entitled: “Environmental Governance–Benefit Sharing of Biological Diversity”. The intention of the MABG was to develop a Code of Conduct to be used as the foundation of a relationship between botanical gardens, stakeholders and endemic communities. The building of the Code of Conduct was a two-year process that involved members of the MABG, experts from national institutions and international advisors. It was established that the benefits that botanic gardens can share with people are mainly non-profit and include, among others, research results, publications, building of capacities and educational activities. Generally speaking, unique partnerships in the attempt to find social justice that increases the freedoms and functionalities of human communities for biodiversity continuation. Mexico's botanical gardens are –first and foremost – committed to the conservation of Mexican flora through the empowerment of local and indigenous communities. It is with this premise that Mexican botanic gardens continue to exert efforts for the development of the first National Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge. All this in support of the national authority leading the process for the creation of federal laws that expectantly will make patent the principles of the Nagoya Protocol.

Paper short abstract:

Conservation of the Critically Endangered Mulanje Cedar tree in Malawi has been a partnership of local research & conservation organisations; international botanic garden scientists (restoration ecologists, soil scientists and foresters); & local communities to propagate, plant & sustainably use it.

Paper long abstract:

In Mount Mulanje, the Critically Endangered Mulanje Cedar tree (Widdringtonia whytei) has been logged to near extinction. The dense populations that live around the mountain have high poverty rates and rely on the mountain resources to supplement their livelihoods. With a lack of law enforcement capacity, this has caused overharvesting. Local conservation NGO Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT) partnered with the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi (FRIM), Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and local communities to address the issues associated with Mulanje Cedar conservation. Researchers from BGCI’s network and FRIM ran germination trials to understand how best to propagate the tree and used the lessons learnt to train local communities in 8 newly established nurseries to propagate high numbers of seedlings for restoration planting. MMCT and communities then planted over 500,000 seedlings on the mountain, helping to change local perceptions that this wild tree cannot be propagated and planted successfully. To improve restoration practices, international experts from the Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens - soil scientists and restoration ecologists – have helped to design trials to investigate how best to plant the tree on the mountain. This is investigating the local environmental conditions Mulanje Cedar trees thrive in, including the impacts of different local plant species, some of which may provide positive mycorrhizal soil communities. At the same time, Malawian researchers from Mzuzu University have been investigating potential future uses of the Mulanje Cedar –essential oils from leaves may offer sustainable new value chains and benefits to local people.