Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Annual Report 2018-19

The delegates at the Climate Change Summit
Climate Change Alliance of
Botanic Gardens (CCABG)
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria hosted
the inaugural Botanic Gardens Climate
Change Summit from 3–6 December
2018. Ten botanical organisations from
around the world, as well as three peak
botanic gardens industry bodies —Botanic
Gardens Conservation International,
the International Association of Botanic
Gardens, and Botanic Gardens Australia
and New Zealand—attended the Summit.
Two teams, Engagement and Impact,
and Melbourne Gardens, led the design
and implementation of the Summit with
vital input from Cranbourne Gardens,
Corporate and Science, which made it a
whole of organisation event.
Founding partners of the CCABG are:
Beijing Botanic Garden, China —
Dr Ling Guo and Dr Ran He
Botanic Gardens Australia and
New Zealand — Paul Tracy
Botanic Garden Conservation
International (BGCI) — Dr Paul Smith
Buenos Aires Botanic Garden,
Argentina — Professor Graciela Barreiro
City of Melbourne - Urban Forest and
Green Infrastructure — Ian Shears
Eden Project International, England —
David Harland and Mike Petty
Jerusalem Botanic Garden, Israel —
Tom Amit
Morton Arboretum, USA — Dr Nicole
Cavender
Nanshan Botanic Garden, China —
Dr Anna Quan
Royal Botanic Gardens CSIC Madrid, Spain
— Professor Esteban Manrique Reol
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Australia
— Professor Tim Entwisle
South African National Biodiversity
Institute (SANBI), South Africa —
Dr Moshibudi Rampedi
University of California Arboretum, USA —
Mary Burke.
Since the Summit, 13 members of the
Association of Iberian-Macaronesian
(Spanish) Botanic Gardens have
registered interest in membership. There
have also been expressions of interest
from the Royal Botanic Gardens Jordan,
and botanic gardens in Argentina and
North America.
The vision for the CCABG is to recruit
members locally, nationally and
internationally, with workshops and
presentations planned for BGANZ
Victoria, and the BGANZ Congress in
Wellington later in 2019.
Horticultural Learning and
Excellence
As part of a professional exchange
agreement between the Royal Botanic
Gardens Victoria and the National
Parks Board Singapore, Dermot Molloy,
Horticulturist at the Melbourne Gardens
Nursery, was able to spend a month
in Singapore working at Singapore
Botanic Gardens (SBG). This exchange
gave Molloy the opportunity to observe
different management practices, various
methods of propagation, potting, plant
pest and disease management and gain a
valuable understanding of Orchid culture
through hands-on work with experts. He
was also able to share his own expertise
in propagation with SBG.This opportunity
was funded by Meg Bentley.
In April, Horticulturist Bret Pritchard
travelled to Arizona and California on
a Friends scholarship to undertake
research, professional development and
networking in support to develop the
new Arid Precinct in Melbourne Gardens.
Pritchard visited some remarkable places
and vast landscapes including Joshua
Tree National Park, Moorten Botanical
Gardens in Palm Springs and Desert
Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.
Due to funding from the Portland
Foundation, Melbourne Gardens
Horticulturists Therese Turner and
Gemma Cotterell participated in a
successful Queensland High Peak
Collecting trip with Warren Worboys
from Cranbourne Gardens. This fourday
trip in late April resulted in more
than 30 plant species propagated for
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria living
collections and provided important
networking opportunities for future
collecting trips. This objective from
our Landscape Succession Strategy
to increase wild collected taxa for our
living collections.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS BOARD VICTORIA — ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 57