NGBB

Developing biodiversity conservation in urban Istanbul

Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahcesi (NGBB) is a small botanic garden situated in a motorway intersection in a residential area of Istanbul. Since 2004 RBGE have contributed to the development of NGBB, through strategic planning, capacity building and training in horticulture, collections management and botanical art.

Surrounded by high rise apartment blocks, NGBB provides a vital green space for local residents and visitors. Although small, it delivers all the principal elements of a botanic garden. One of the most popular gardens in Istanbul, it has a beautiful collection of mainly Turkish plants, including wild collected geophytes. NGBB’s educational programs for local school children are aimed at producing the next generation of environmentalists.

Initial funding for RBGE’s collaborative involvement with NGBB came via a UK Darwin Initiative project to develop the capacity of this fledgling garden. Staff exchanges and collaboration has continued beyond the life of the original project. Recent collaborations include horticultural training as well as botanical artwork. Botanical artists from NGBB are currently providing the artwork for a major new RBGE publication on Chilean plants.

Project Details

Partners:

NGBBBGCI

Location:

Turkey

Project Start Date:

2007

Related Project Services:

Capacity Development, Planning, Specialist Service

Socotra Botanic Garden

Developing conservation capacity on Socotra

CMEP is helping to build capacity at the small Socotra Botanic Garden in Hadibo. The garden is an important resource for local conservation, education and awareness programmes.

In 2007 SBG staff participated in horticultural training at RBGE, completing the Certificate in Practical Horticulture. This training is being continued at the SBG by CMEP staff. 

CMEP has provided the garden with equipment and materials needed for better plant maintenance and record keeping, as well as seeds of important endemic species collected on early RBGE expeditions to Socotra. Species such as the Critically Endangered Pelargonium insularis have now been returned to Socotra and are being grown at SBG.

Several new displays have been created at the garden including some which replicate natural habitat areas. A new succulent garden has been created, containing the majority of succulent plants found across the islands.

Plants are grown using local materials and recycled waste such as empty water bottles. 

Thanks to this partnership, SBG has grown into a globally significant collection of endemic and endangered Socotran species. SBG has also developed its involvement in several other Socotran conservation projects including the Homhil Soil Restoration Project.

Project Details

Partners:

Environment Protection Authority YemenSocotra Botanic Garden Socotra Conservation Fund

Location:

Socotra

Project Start Date:

2006

Related Project Services:

Capacity Development

Socotra Archipelago

Protecting the land of the Dragon’s blood tree

The Socotra Archipelago UNESCO World Heritage Site is an area of outstanding biological diversity, natural beauty and cultural heritage. Since 1989 CMEP have been at the forefront of ecological research and planning on this unique archipelago.

Science

CMEP has produced definitive publications on the Socotran environment, including The Ethnoflora of the Soqotra Archipelago.

Conservation Planning

CMEP holds an extensive database of plant habitats and species distributions across the Archipelago. This has contributed directly to several major conservation planning documents, including the Conservation Zoning Plan (1999) and the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation of 2008.

Surveying and Monitoring

CMEP have conducted numerous Environmental Impact Assessments on Socotra, particularly in relation to development and road building.

A network of over 70 monitoring sites has been established across the Archipelago. These are being monitored in relation to development, grazing and climate change. CMEP has also established monitoring programmes for endangered species e.g. Duvaliandra dioscoridis.

Building Capacity

We have an on-going programme of building capacity with local conservation workers. CMEP training covers plant identification, data collection and survey techniques. A continuing programme of training is also taking place at the Socotra Botanic Garden.

Restoration

CMEP provide assistance to a local soil restoration project initiated by the Geographical Institute at the University of Tübingen.

Project Details

Partners:

BirdLife InternationalEnvironment Protection Authority Yemen Senckenberg NaturmuseumSocotra Governance and Biodiversity Project (SGBP)University of Tübingen and Socotra Conservation Fund

Location:

Socotra

Project Start Date:

1989

Related Project Services:

Planning, Specialist Service

PEACE Project

Improving livestock production in Afghanistan

CMEP provided specialist plant identification services for the PEACE Project in Afghanistan.

Since July 2006, Texas A&M University (TAMU) in collaboration with the University of California-Davis, USAID and the Government of Afghanistan (GoA), has been implementing a program to reduce the social and economic risks associated with extensive livestock production in Afghanistan.

The focus of this program, termed the PEACE (Pastoral Engagement, Adaptation, and Capacity Enhancement) Project is to provide nomadic herders and the GoA with information on emerging forage conditions and market prices, for planning, mitigation and response purposes. The PEACE Project is also building the capacity of GoA staff so they can conduct research themselves; and Afghanistan’s herders, the Kuchi, so they can peacefully mediate conflicts among themselves and with local villagers of other identities.

Afghanistan has approximately 3500-5000 plant species. A series of conflicts over the last 40 years have left Afghanistan without the skills and resources for conducting research or reliably identifying plant species.

CMEP staff used their floristic knowledge of SW Asia, along with RBGE institutional expertise and resources, to provide accurate plant identifications.

Project Details

Partners:

PEACE ProjectTAMU

Location:

Afghanistan

Project Start Date:

2010

Related Project Services:

Specialist Service

Important Plant Areas in Arabia

Identifying the most important sites for wild plant diversity

Over 100 provisional Important Plant Area (IPA) sites have been identified in Saudi Arabia, Oman & Yemen. CMEP is engaged with project partners in surveying and producing final assessments of these sites as IPAs.

IPA programs are a response to Target V of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Target V states ‘Protection of 50 per cent of the most important areas for plant diversity assured.’ Data from IPA habitat and species surveys is intended to inform this conservation planning process. In Saudi Arabia, a number of IPA sites have been proposed as protected areas.

To date, IPA full site assessments have been published, on Jibal Qaraqir, the Farasan Islands, Uruq Bani Ma’arid and Jabal Aja’.

CMEP developed criteria for IPA selection in Arabia with the IUCN Arabian Plant Specialist Group. Criteria for the Arabian region specifically include relict species and refugia for connectivity and climate change mitigation. They also target traditional protected areas (himas in Saudi Arabia, hamiyah in Oman) for inclusion in the network.

Project Details

Partners:

Saudi Wildlife CommissionOman Botanic Garden Agricultural Research and Extension Authority YemenIUCN SSC Arabian Plant Specialist Group

Location:

Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen

Project Start Date:

2006

Related Project Services:

Conservation, Planning, Surveying
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