At a solemn event to remember the anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica, a backdrop of seven young Serbian spruce (Picea omorika) at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh stand as a powerful symbol of remembrance, resilience and the importance of global partnerships.
Speaking to ceremony attendees including Kirsten Oswald MSP, Minister for Victims and Community Safety and members of Beyond Srebrenica charity, Regius Keeper Professor Julia Knights reflected on how the Garden’s expertise in plant science and horticulture – together with collaboration across borders – can help conserve our most vulnerable species and protect biodiversity.
“Through the work of our world-leading International Conifer Conservation Programme and its close collaboration with horticulturists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the globally endangered Picea omorika has been protected and continues to thrive here in Edinburgh and at Benmore and Dawyck Botanic Gardens. This not only demonstrates the importance of our work to save species threatened with extinction but also stands as a testament to the importance of global partnerships and human solidarity across borders.”
Endemic to Europe but now restricted to a small part of the western Balkans, Picea omorika is classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Thomas Gifford, Supervisor at Dawyck Botanic Garden, also spoke at the event, sharing how he had been part of an international team in 2010 to wild-collect the Picea omorika seeds during conservation fieldwork in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Transferred to Edinburgh, the seeds were grown on by the RBGE-led International Conifer Conservation Programme and now thrive in RBGE’s gardens in Edinburgh, Dawyck and Benmore.
The commemorative event was hosted by Beyond Srebrenica, a Scottish charity working to ensure that the memory of the genocide endures, and its lessons are never forgotten. It honours the memory of more than 8,300 Bosniak men and boys murdered in Srebrenica in July 1995 and reflects on the broader Bosnian war that claimed over 100,000 lives and displaced more than 2 million people - including thousands who sought refuge in the UK.