Spring 2010 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

30
Horticulture
Planting for the future
AN overvieW of tHe AcHieveMeNtS So fAr of tHe euroPeAN Zoo Horticulture GrouP
Eddie Mole, Curator of Horticulture, Bristol Zoological Gardens
the european Zoo Horticulture Group
(eZG), now very well established, will
be celebrating its 10th anniversary at
its May conference in Budapest. it will
be a chance for delegates to meet and
plan for the future and hear about the
best developments and most innovative
projects from the incredibly complex
world of zoo horticulture. Subjects will
include animal enclosure design, plant
animal interactions, best practices,
education and conservation work.
one consistent aim since the group’s
formation has been the collection of
information on zoo animals and their
relationships with plants. Work began
when Sergio Pacinotti carried out a
number of animal-focused surveys
on behalf of the eZG in the early 90s.
this has now been overtaken by the
development of the Zoo Plant Wiki at
www.zooplants.net. the Wiki is much
more user-friendly and adaptable,
and was set up by Sven Seiffert of the
Zoological Society of london and first
adopted and developed in the uK by
the BiAZA Plant Working Group. More
recently eZG members, including
keepers and designers, are being
encouraged to use and contribute to
the site. As the Wiki becomes more
populated and established it will
become the major source of information
on topics such as plants that survive
well in specific animal enclosures, useful
fodder plants and how plants are being
used zoos.
Plant conservation work received
a boost in 2006 when the eZG set up
an eZG Plant conservation Network
working group to respond to the
challenges of the Global Strategy
for Plant conservation (GSPc). this
working group enlisted support and
advice from relevant organisations and
committees including Botanic Gardens
conservation international and the
eAZA conservation committee to
develop its aims. outcomes include the
adoption of Plant conservation Day on
18 May to promote plant conservation
issues and actions.
the Association of Zoo Horticulture
and Botanic Gardens conservation
international initiative ‘Plant
conservation Day’ is an example
of cooperation between zoos and
gardens and is particularly relevant to
GSPc targets 14 (importance of the
promotion of biodiversity in education)
and 16 (networks for plant conservation
activities established). Plant conservation
Day continues to grow and in 2009 it
had become a truly global event, with
participants all over the world from
china to the uSA. the thinking behind
it is that many actions will all add up to
something much more significant and
we can proudly claim that this initiative
originally came from zoos led by the
Association of Zoo Horticulture.
the eZG established a Plant
conservation Grant in 2009 to stimulate
and support plant conservation projects
in its member institutions. the grant is
entirely funded by member donations
through a silent auction and badly needs
more funds or sponsors in order to make
it more significant and to attract entries.
i hope that in 2010 we will be able to
announce the first winner and that this
grant will become established as an
annual or regular award.
through initiatives such as these,
zoos can contribute to various national
and international conservation plans
and strategies, such as the uK’s Plant
Biodiversity challenge and the GSPc.
the convention of Biological Diversity’s
Plant conservation report notes that
substantial progress has been made
on eight of the sixteen GSPc targets
and that target 15, which calls for
increased capacity and training for
plant conservation, is highlighted as
being critical to the overall achievement
of all sixteen. can we help? i feel that
zoos can do their part to inspire plant
conservation ambassadors, especially
as some zoos already have horticultural
or ecological training opportunities
and if we can we should because the
importance of future communication
between zoos and botanic gardens is
shown by the common challenges of
climate change and invasive species.
We both contain exotic landscapes
and plantings that could prove to be
tomorrow’s invasive species, which is a
threat to native flora and fauna alike.
this year’s conference is to be held at
Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden on
25-28 May. it looks at the best of the last
decade of zoo horticulture and ‘gardens
and remarkable projects’. it will also look
forward at the challenges of the future.
i hope the eZG continues to gain
support from zoo Directors and thank
those who encourage participation in
eZG and its work.