If you missed LIPSTICK ON A FIG TREE, a TEALEAVES session on tree conservation and reforestation, you can watch the recording here.
Tree planting dominates political and popular agendas, and is often portrayed as an easy answer to the climate crisis and effective mitigation for corporate carbon emissions. However, it is not a simple solution: Planting the wrong trees in the wrong place can cause considerably more damage than benefits, failing people and nature.
Given that the botanical community is currently assessing the conservation status of every tree species on Earth and we grow over 18,000 tree species in botanic gardens and arboreta, Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BCGI) and University of British Columbia Botanical Garden (UBCBG) have an important role to play in helping to ensure that the right tree is planted in the right place and that diverse native species are part of tree planting portfolios.
Surely it is common sense to incorporate biodiversity, botanical data and botanical expertise into both the planning and practice of tree planting? This may not be the case.
Watch the recording of the panel discussion with Dean Meigan Aronson of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Science, Dr. Pedro Brancalion of the University of São Paolo, Paul Smith of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and Patrick Lewis, Director of UBC Botanical Garden in a virtual event exploring a botanist’s rules of engagement in a rapidly changing world.
