The National Arboretum is here! What can be done here?
It is not only the main form of ex situ protection, but also a "punch-in place" for ordinary people to travel for popular science.
Our reporter Wang Weiwei
"Worker's Daily" (April 24, 2022 Edition 02)
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On April 18, the National Botanical Garden was officially unveiled in Beijing.
In the future, the National Botanical Garden will focus on ex situ conservation of plants and scientific research, and become a comprehensive place with functions such as scientific dissemination, horticultural display and ecological leisure.
On April 18, the news of the official opening of the National Botanical Garden in Beijing was swiped on the Internet, and many citizens and tourists came to the National Botanical Garden to "check in" to take pictures.
Based on the existing conditions of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (South Garden) and the Beijing Botanical Garden (North Garden), the National Botanical Garden is organically integrated through expansion and efficiency enhancement, with a total planned area of nearly 600 hectares.
In the future, the National Botanical Garden will focus on ex situ conservation of plants and scientific research, and become a comprehensive place with functions such as scientific dissemination, horticultural display and ecological leisure.
Building a National Botanical Garden System
"Children are staring at the screen all day. Coming to the botanical garden can not only relax their minds, but also help them gain knowledge. It is a good place to appreciate flowers and grass." Mr. Zhang, 68, grew up in Beijing and heard that the National Botanical Garden After the news of the unveiling, I came here with my wife and grandson to "watch the fun".
He also took a photo at the gate to compare it with the previous "Beijing Botanical Garden".
Where is the best place to take pictures?
When is the best viewing period for different plants?
Which parks are must-sees... Like Mr. Zhang, many Beijing residents are familiar with the past of the botanical garden.
As early as 1956, the State Council approved the establishment of the Beijing Botanical Garden. After decades of construction, the Beijing Botanical Garden has collected more than 15,000 species of plants, including nearly 1,000 species of rare and endangered plants such as Metasequoia and Dove tree protected ex situ.
The State Forestry and Grassland Administration stated that the establishment of a national botanical garden in Beijing this time is an important part of the construction of the national botanical garden system. The relevant departments follow the general idea of overall planning, scientific layout, protection priority, and step-by-step implementation, "mature one, establish one", Steadily promote the construction of the national botanical garden system, and gradually achieve the goal of ex situ conservation of more than 85% of my country's wild native plants and all key protected wild plant species.
Zhou Zhihua, deputy director of the Department of Animals and Plants of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, said that it is of great significance to start the construction of the national botanical garden system. First, the national botanical gardens should divide labor and cooperate and share resources to effectively achieve full coverage and sustainable utilization of plant diversity in China, and comprehensively improve my country's macroeconomic situation. The second is to realize the ex situ protection of plants in multiple places, which is conducive to reducing the extinction risk of plant species caused by regional natural disasters, extreme weather and emergencies, and improving the stability and reliability of plant diversity protection. Save important strategic resources for the country; third, it is conducive to leading and demonstrating the scientific development of national botanical gardens and improving the construction level of botanical gardens in my country; fourth, combining the advantages of regional characteristics, collecting and displaying rare and endangered plants with national characteristics, so that the national botanical garden can provide the people with High-quality ecological products and wonderful spiritual enjoyment.
Main forms of ex situ conservation
The establishment of a national botanical garden system is not only the wish of many researchers and botany enthusiasts, but also the meaning of my country's ecological civilization construction.
Time back to October 12, 2021.
On the same day, at the leaders' summit of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity held in Kunming, China announced the launch of the construction of national botanical garden systems in Beijing and Guangzhou. On the same day, the list of the first five national parks in my country was also officially announced. announced.
Zhou Zhihua said that the construction of a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body is the main form of in situ conservation, and the construction of a botanical garden system led by the National Botanical Garden is the main form of ex situ conservation. my country has a relatively complete biodiversity conservation system.
He Ran, executive director of the National Botanical Garden (North Garden), said that the establishment of a national botanical garden in the capital is a common practice in many countries in the world.
Wang Xiaoquan, director of the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the National Botanical Garden has the country's leading scientific research strength and plant ex situ conservation level, representing the highest level of plant diversity conservation, research and utilization in my country.
Popular Science Study Tour "Punch Place"
Botanical gardens are often referred to as "Noah's Ark" for the protection of rare and endangered plants.
According to Wang Kang, curator of the National Botanical Garden Science Museum and member of the Species Survival Committee (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the plan here is to focus on collecting native plants in the Three North Regions, representative plants in the northern temperate zone, and representative plants in different geographic regions around the world. And more than 30,000 species of rare and endangered plants, covering 80% of the families and 50% of the genera of Chinese plant species, accounting for 10% of the world's plant species.
It also plans to collect 5 million representative plant specimens from five continents, covering 100% of families and 95% of genera in China.
According to reports, the future National Botanical Garden will meet major needs such as the frontiers of plant science, the construction of national ecological civilization, and the security of biological resources, and will achieve significant original results in research on the formation mechanism of plant diversity and the response model of fragile ecosystems to global changes. , and made important achievements in the development and invention of core technologies such as innovative biodiversity monitoring, vegetation reconstruction and ecological restoration, and intelligent plant factories.
Zhao Hongtao, director of the Popular Science Education Department of Beijing Natural History Museum, has been devoted to the popularization of natural science all the year round. He believes that the construction of the national botanical garden system will help popularize botany, strengthen people's understanding of ex situ conservation, and improve people's understanding of plant diversity conservation. has important practical significance.
"As teachers, we are looking forward to this moment." Zhen Zhaomin, a high school biology teacher from Beijing, said that in the National Botanical Garden, teenagers can not only see plant specimens from all over the world, but more importantly, they can experience botany on the spot The charm of research.
In Zhen Zhaomin's view, the National Botanical Garden will become the second classroom for many biology teachers, and it will also become an important "check-in place" for many foreign students to come to Beijing for study tours.