Forester Angela A. Limpiada, University Extension Associate II (UEAII) of the Makiling Botanic Gardens (MBG) of the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) attended a Training Course on Botanical Garden Development Management last August 28 to September 15, 2018 in Shanghai, China. The training was organized by the International Association of Botanic Garden (IABG) sponsored by the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology, The People’s Republic of China, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.
A total of 20 participants from 15 countries (i.e. Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Vietnam) attended the 20-day training. The training consists lectures and educational tours.
Among the lectures presented during the training were as follows: Mission and the Development of Botanic Gardens; Young Plants and Finished Plants Production Management for Bedding Plant; Flower Border Design; The role of Protected areas and IUCN Redlist; Botanical Garden Design; Naturalized and Invasive Plants; Plant Exhibitions and Shows – Concept and Implementation; Genetic Issues in Plant Conservation; Education Theory; Botanic Garden Customer Service and Marketing; Plant Taxonomy at Botanical Gardens; Herbarium Management and Seed Bank; and Extend botanical gardens to the wild – Linking in situ living plant populations with ex situ plant collection.
There were also guided tours and educational trips. The participants were exposed to the different facilities of Chenshan Botanical Garden and visited different parks and gardens in China (i.e. Zuibachi Park, Fangta Park, Shanghai Botanical Garden, Hangzhou Botanical Garden and Tianmu Mountain).
Prior to the training proper, each participant presented a short introduction about their botanic gardens. This allowed the participants to learn different knowledge and techniques from other gardens. An ethnobotany show was also part of the training. Each participant presented a poster about their garden on how they communicate to the visitors. Some participants performed traditional song and dance to showcase their country’s culture which made the show livelier and interesting to the visitors. Other participants wore their traditional clothes to add up to the enjoyment of the visitors.
International friendship from 16 countries including China had been established during the duration of the training and they expected more collaborations with each botanic gardens in the future.
AALimpiada
Photos credit to: AALimpiada
