International recognition for Meise Botanic Garden
22 may = International Day of Biodiversity
BGCI’s Advanced Conservation Practitioner Accreditation is aimed at botanic institutions wishing to demonstrate that they achieve significant conservation impact, and recognises botanic gardens with a focus on conservation actions that support local, national or global conservation goals.
The following botanic gardens are the first recipients of BGCI’s Advanced Conservation Practitioner Accreditation:
Atlanta Botanical Garden, USA
Chicago Botanic Garden, USA
Denver Botanic Gardens, USA
New England Wild Flower Society / Garden in the Woods, USA
Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium
Missouri Botanical Garden, USA
Montgomery Botanical Center, USA
National Botanic Garden of Wales, United Kingdom
North Carolina Botanical Garden, USA
Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, United Kingdom
State Botanical Garden of Georgia, USA
BGCI accreditation ensures that gardens adhere to international standards, results in tangible benefits for participating gardens – such as recognition, peer review, creating standards for excellence, and funding – and acts as a motivator for botanic garden leadership.
Botanic Garden Meise holds 1,079 taxa in its living collections that are unique in ex situ collections worldwide, and 3,227 taxa that are present in five or fewer ex situ collections globally.
Botanic Garden Meise’s collection includes 285 taxa that are globally threatened according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of these 285 taxa, 6 taxa are uniquely conserved at Botanic Garden Meise and 39 taxa are held in five or fewer ex situ collections worldwide.
Botanic Garden Meise’s collection includes 2,409 taxa that are threatened at some level (nationally, regionally or globally) according to ThreatSearch. Of these 2,409 taxa, 45 taxa are uniquely conserved at Botanic Garden Meise and 246 taxa are held in five or fewer ex situ collections worldwide. Furthermore the Botanic Garden has a seed bank in which hundreds of threatened plant species are conserved.
“Meise Botanic Garden is actively involved in the safeguarding of plant diversity, said Elke Bellefroid, Head of Living Collections and Domain at Meise Botanic Garden. “Our research and collection management contributes to the development of tools for conservation of plants in their natural habitat as well as in our living collections and seed bank. Conservation efforts focus on threatened species of Belgium and Central Africa, as well as on crop wild relatives, including species of banana, coffee, and beans.” “Meise Botanic Garden is honored by the recognition of BGCI as an Advanced Conservation Practitioner, and will continue to increase its efforts in conserving global plant biodiversity through its research, collection and public awareness programs.”