Plants grown in botanical gardens can improve human lives

Research and investigation into plants provide the knowledge for improving lives. Many gardens have a strong emphasis on research relevant to the development of useful plants, especially in the fields of agriculture and healthcare.

This research is often related to domestication and crop development: for example, Wuhan Botanical Garden in China has bred 10 new cultivars of kiwi, and also developed local medicines such as "Yikanjiaolong". Other research is focused on developing healthcare: for example the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences searches for plant species with antiviral or anti-microbe activities, hepato-protectors, and immuno-modulators or anti-tumour properties.

Similar activites are carried out across the world: examples include the Ceará Botanical Park in Brazil, the Research Institute of Medicinal Plants in Poland, and the Guangxi Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants in China. Other gardens, such as Botanic Garden "Fundación Xochitla" in Mexico, focus on cultivating and developing local plants with potential as ornamentals, whilst gardens in northern regions focus on finding varieties of useful plants that can withstand the harsh climate.

Much research provides information that can be directly used by local people to improve their livelihoods. For example, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Botanic Garden "ORSTOM" is domesticating species that are locally useful, such as a fodder plant that is suitable for local planting, and that will help improve the nitrogen content of pasture.

Similarly, Kisantu Botanic Garden in the Democratic Republic of Congo has conducted trials on the popular fruit mangosteen, to enable local farmers to extend the shelf-life of the harvested fruit, and so reach a larger market. Other botanical gardens perform research that has direct implications for more distant communities: the Botanical and Experimental Garden of Radboud University in the Netherlands investigates the properties of its African Solanum accessions to provide an unambiguous and comprehensive guide to 'safe to eat' nightshades that also satisfies consumer taste preferences.

Research can also have implications for local healthcare. For example, in Senegal the Garden for Useful Plant Experimentation (JEPU) is inventorying, cultivating and evaluating traditional medicinal plants and their management systems, to establish a system of medicine that is sustainable and meets local needs. There are many more examples of research that supports human well-being, both past and present. It is crucial that research is not only sustained but the results actively used in practical projects to support well-being.

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Plants grown in botanical gardens can improve human lives

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