Science news

Edinburgh and Colombia sign MOU

Botanical Institutions To Create Online World Flora

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew), the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) and the Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), have announced plans to develop the World Flora—the first modern, online catalog of the world’s plants—to be made available by the year 2020. This massive undertaking will include the compilation of information on up to 400,000 plant species worldwide. It will also achieve a primary target of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, an ambitious effort first adopted by the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity in 2002, to halt the continuing loss of plant biodiversity around the globe. Representatives of the four botanical gardens recently met to organize a framework to guide their efforts and respond to this need for a baseline survey on the plants of the world that has been called for by the international community. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing plans to create the World Flora was recently signed into effect by the four institutions.

One Oak Project

Sustainable Forestry in spotlight at the Botanics

The life and story of a 220-year-old oak tree is to be the focus of a family event at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) this weekend (15 - 16 Jan 2011) which aims to promote sustainable forestry.

Professor Stephen Blackmore

CBE for Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper, RBGE.

Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, has been awarded a CBE for services to plant conservation in the New Year Honours List.

Millionth lichen record marks milestone in biodiversity research

A major collaboration of amateurs and professionals has been working for ten years to record the health of Britain's pollution-sensitive lichens, and is now celebrating the millionth record.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a charity (registration number SC007983)