International cooperations

Partner Gardens

All over the world, botanical gardens are committed to the conservation of biodiversity. Nevertheless, it is a great challenge to establish a new plant collection, especially in regions where there are very few botanical gardens. International partnerships with established gardens should facilitate the start.

In this context, the TU Dresden Botanical Garden maintains contacts with the Botanical Garden of the Universidad de Talca in Chile and the Universidade Kimpa Vita in Angola. The partnerships focus on the transfer of knowledge: gardeners and the management of the garden are in exchange and learn about the work processes and structure of the  gardens during mutual visits. In addition, the Dresden garden staff provide assistance in planning the partner gardens. In 2006 the Botanical Garden of the Universidad de Talca was opened. The botanical garden in Angola is currently in the planning phase.

Research

Biodiversity and nature conservation do not end at national borders. International cooperation is therefore an important basis for research. An examples of a current cross-border research project is the Angola project, which combines e.g. ethnobotanical studies and biodiversity documentation as well as conservation initiatives.

International gardener exchange

The international foundation for gardener exchange sends gardeners from botanical gardens around the world. In doing so, they can not only learn about the cultivated species in the wild, but also gain valuable knowledge about the handling of rare species or plants that are difficult to cultivate. In this way, gardeners from Dresden travelled to Japan, Chile or Edinburgh. In return we were allowed to welcome guests from Edinburgh and Berlin in Dresden.

International seed exchange

As a scientific institution, the Botanical Garden maintains contacts with about 500 institutions worldwide. In order to provide the plants needed for research and teaching, the gardens exchange seeds among themselves. The seeds come from either cultivated or collected plants. The origin is recorded as precisely as possible, documented and passed on to the ordering parties. In this way our material goes all over the world. At the same time we have the possibility to obtain seeds of interesting species for our own collection.

International agreements/IPEN

Plant diversity is an important resource for humans. In order to use it sustainably and fairly, international agreements exist that regulate its acquisition and use, most commonly known among them the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol. These agreements help to ensure that benefits resulting from the use of plants and other genetic resources are shared fairly among the participating states.

For this reason, since 2015, botanic gardens have to document the origin of scientifically used plant material accurately. In the case of collections in the wild, permits must be obtained from local authorities and the legal acquisition of the resources must be documented. If plant material is passed on, it must be checked whether this complies with the requirements of the countries of origin.
It is therefore often not possible to hand over plants to private persons. At the same time, in many cases we cannot include material whose origin is unknown in our collection.

In order to continue the exchange of plants between botanic gardens, the Verband Botanischer Gärten (Association of Botanical Gardens) has developed a transparent network that documents the origin and transfer of plant material and thus guarantees the requirements of the CBD. The Botanical Garden Dresden is a member of this "International Plant Exchange Network" (IPEN). All plants receive a unique IPEN number from which their origin can be read at any time. If we give plants to another botanical garden, the plant keeps its IPEN number. If material is transferred to non-members, a standardized transfer agreement ensures that the claims of the country of origin remain guaranteed.