Café Scientifique: Botanical Arks

Protecting the world’s plants in living collections like botanic gardens is increasingly becoming the motivation behind contemporary plant collecting. At a local, national and international level, the protection of native plants and the ethics surrounding their collection from natural environments is now scrutinised in an effort to conserve biological diversity, while contributing to educational and scientific advancement.

During the heyday of the Botanist Explorer, the drive to collect, study, name and understand exotic and beautiful plants was key in establishing Britain’s self-perception as a major civilising power in the world. Unsustainable commercial exploitation sometimes resulted as exotic plants were of great interest in an age when scientific discovery began to reach a wider audience outside of academia.

Today we are in a very different world and collecting specimens is regulated by agreements and international convention. New technologies, such as digital photography and analysis at a molecular level, have increased the data value of collections, and scientists aim to follow best practice.

An estimated 1 in 5 plants is threatened with extinction due to human impacts such as habitat loss and climate change. Yet new plants continue to be discovered when botanists visit less studied regions. Around 2,000 plant species new to science are described each year, some of which are classified as threatened from the moment we know of their existence.

Martin Gardner, botanist and plant conservationist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), will address the practice of contemporary collecting for conservation as well as the benefit of future generations.

Tickets for this event cost £3, which includes a drink.
A private view of Plant Scenery of the World will take place from 8-9pm after the Café.

This event is running alongside Plant Scenery of the World, an exhibition at RBGE celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Botanics' iconic modernist glasshouses, the 'Front Range', opened in 1967 to house plants collected in tropical regions by British explorers. The exhibition presents new, commissioned and existing work by Laura Aldridge, Charlie Billingham, Bobby Niven, Oliver Osborne and Ben Rivers alongside rare and unseen archival material, botanical paintings by Isik Güner, Jacqui Pestell and Sharon Tingey and historical paintings by R.K. Greville from the Garden’s own collection.

Café Scientifique is an open and informal forum for the public discussion of science and engineering. The café is committed to encouraging public engagement with science and engineering by hosting monthly Cafés in which expert speakers are discussing timely topics with an audience of non-specialists.

For over 25 years Martin Gardner has worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on many aspects of conifer conservation and is currently Chair of the IUCN Conifer Specialist Group. Gardner co-ordinates the International Conifer Conservation Programme which together with members of the Conifer Specialist Group, has played a major role in the completion of the Red List and first global reassessment for conifers. Part of his work has been to establish one of the world's most comprehensive networks for the ex situ conservation of threatened conifers. Gardner’s conifer interests have taken him to over 30 countries in order to study and collect research materials of threatened conifers and their associated species. Particular geographical areas of interest include New Caledonia and Latin America. www.rbge.org.uk

FAQs

What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?

Please access the Gardens via the John Hope Gateway (the West Gate) entrance on Arboretum Place. There is metered on-street parking available on Arboretum Place. There are regular public bus services to the East Gate on Inverleith Row (Lothian buses 8, 23, 27). It is a short 5 minute walk from the East Gate around the perimeter of the Garden to the West Gate via Inverleith Terrace. For more information on how to get here please follow this link to our website: http://www.rbge.org.uk/the-gardens/edinburgh/how-to-reach-us

How can I contact the organiser with any questions?

Please contact us via Eventbrite or by email on ihouse@rbge.ac.uk and we will endeavor to respond to your query as soon as possible.

What's the refund policy?

We are happy to refund tickets as requested up to 12 hours before the event. Unfortunately we cannot refund tickets if cancelled within the 12 hours leading up to the event.