International Cooperation Among Botanic Gardens
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AMONG BOTANIC GARDENS: THE CONCEPT OF ESTABLISHING AGREEMENTS By Erich S. Rudyj A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of elaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Public Horticulture Administration May 1988 © 1988 Erich S. Rudyj INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION~ AMONG BOTANIC GARDENS: THE CONCEPT OF EsrtBllSHING AGREEMENTS 8y Erich S. Rudyj Approved: _ James E. Swasey, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: _ James E. Swasey, Ph.D. Coordinator of the Longwood Graduate Program Approved: _ Richard 8. MLfrray, Ph.D. Associate Provost for Graduate Studies No man is an /land, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie '-"Jere, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee. - JOHN DONNE - In the Seventeenth Meditation of the Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624) iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincerest thanks to Donald Crossan, James Oliver and James Swasey, who, as members of my thesis committee, provided me with the kind of encouragement and guidance needed to merge both the fields of Public Horticulture and International Affairs. Special thanks are extended to the organizers and participants of the Tenth General Meeting and Conference of the International Association of Botanical Gardens (IABG) for their warmth, advice and indefatigable spirit of international cooperation. Particular acknowledgements are extended to Hartmut Ern (West Germany), Vernon Heywood (United Kingdom), Piet de Jong (The Netherlands), Kai Larsen (Denmark), Brian Morley (Australia), Gustav Schoser (West Germany) and Freek IV v Vrugtman (Canada). Numerous horticulturists, botanists, conservationists, foresters, agriculturists and international developers contributed in some way to this thesis. I wish to express my thanks to all of them. A special note of thanks to the 128 botanic gardens in 47 nations who were able to respond to my international survey. Thanks are extended to the Longwood Graduate Program, Longwood Gardens and the University of Delaware for making this opportunity possible for me. A particular thanks to my classmates James Mack, Betsey Ney, Carla Pastore, and Lynda Ransley for all their sharing, support and friendship these past two years. Acknowledgements are also extended to the Peace Corps for providing me with my first experience in international development, thereby giving me the chance to extend my professional and personal horizons well beyond my own borders. vi Finally, a heartfelt thanks to my wife Pimpa, my friend, confidant and international companion these past ten years. It is to her that this thesis is dedicated. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT . .. ix INTRODUCTION. 1 Chapter I. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AMONG BOTANIC GARDENS A. Forward .................•...................... 7 B. International Transfer of Plant Taxa 8 1. Plant Exploration 8 2. Dry Plant and Related Materials Exchanges 22 a. Seeds, Seed Lists and Seed Banks 23 b.Cooperation among Herbaria 32 3. The Influence of Laws and Policies 37 a. CITES .•................................. 38 b. Sovereignty over Natural Resources 45 C. Plant Conservation and Botanic Gardens 49 1. Intranational Cooperation in Global Perspective 52 2. Conservation through International Cooperation 65 a. In Situ and Ex Situ Policies in Cooperation 72 D. Idea and Information Exchanges 82 1. Personnel Exchanges 82 2. Written and Electronic Information Exchanges 89 E. Cooperation through Organizations and Conferences 99 F. Institution Building 108 vii viii II. THE CONCEPT OF ESTABLISHING AGREEMENTS A. Forward 114 B. The Degree of Agreement Formality ..... ... ..... ......... ... .. 114 C. Some Ideas on Writing Agreements . ... ..... ... ..... ..... ... ... 140 CONCLUSION ....... ... ........... ....... ......... ..... ..... ....................... 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY ... ..... ... ......... ..... ... ....... ..... ..... ...... 154 APPENDICES 171 Appendix A: Survey Results: International Cooperation Among Botanic Gardens 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 172 Appendix A (1): The Survey Questionnaire 175 Appendix A (2): An International Profile of Institutions Surveyed 184 Appendix A (3): Survey Results 191 Appendix A (4): Representative/Noteworthy Comments ......... ............... • ............... ........... ........ 197 Appendix B: The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ......................•....................................... 215 Appendix C: The Appendices to CITES 245 Appendix D: Resolutions of the Kew Conference of 1978 252 Appendix E: The Canary Declaration of 1985 and Recommendations 255 Appendix F: Constitution: The International Association of Botanical Gardens (IABG) 267 Appendix G: Pertinent International Organizations 271 Appendix H: The Desert Botanical Garden/CIDESON Ag reement 277 Appendix I: Guidelines for a Standard Agreement Document 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 281 Appendix J: The Wisconsin/Heilongjiang Agreement 284 ABSTRACT Comprehensive, coordinated international cooperation among botanic gardens is an emerging concept, being based on the mutual benefits for all concerned. Established, oftentimes, as manifestations of European colonial expansionism, the botanic gardens of today have become increasingly isolated and found their positions eroding with the dissolution of world empires. In this research, I propose the following thesis: For the world's botanic gardens and similar institutions to continue to play an important role in the plant sciences, it is imperative that these institutions cooperate at not only the national and regional levels but ultimately at the international level. Furthermore, if significant and effective international cooperation is to occur among botanic gardens, it is best to formalize agreements, by ix x developing written documents. As the traditional stewards of the world's plant resources, botanic gardens must accept the growing challenge of conserving plant taxa for posterity. Complete conservation coverage of all threatened and endangered plant taxa can not be accomplished by individual botanic gardens. The reduction of duplications of effort dictate the need for botanic gardens to engage in international cooperation activities. Plant conservation is not the only reason for botanic gardens to engage in international cooperation activities. Given the new political, cultural and economic factors facing the world's botanic gardens, international cooperation in plant exploration, plant exchanges, institution building and information exchanges is becoming increasingly requisite for successful institutional operation now and into the future. Informal cooperation must be expanded to more formalized levels with commitments to international cooperation xi being supported by written documents of agreement. By writing agreements, botanic gardens insure a greater probability of success by providing for clearly documented statements of intentions, expectations and abilities as well as long-term institutional memories of cooperation efforts, a means by which external sources of funding may be obtained and gaug'es by which progress may be assessed and activities may be evaluated. INTRODUCTION For the purpose of this thesis, international cooperation among botanic gardens and similar institutions is defined as any mutually beneficial contacts that the aforementioned institutions have with comparable institutions in other nations. According to Ern (1987a), botanic gardens and arboreta can be defined as those institutions that are administered by botanists, maintain documented, scientific plant collections and support an herbarium and library. Though the information presented relates to the goals and needs of botanic gardens and arboreta, much of what is included can apply equally to similar institutions such as horticultural display gardens, botanical/horticu Itural societies and associations, etc. The term botanic garden shall be used from this point on to generally refer to all of these institutions. 1 2 There is considerable international work being done by institutions with missions related to those of botanic gardens. Agricultural research services, forestry organizations, parks departments, university departments, environmental and conservation organizations, zoological parks, etc. all have international ventures. Whenever reference is made to the work being done by one of these related institutions it is because of some pertinence to international cooperation among botanic gardens. Rather than a limited, in-depth approach to anyone aspect of international cooperation among botanic gardens, this thesis is developed as a comprehensive. general primer. It is best used by individuals or institutions interested in obtaining an overall picture of current ideas, issues and procedures with regards to international cooperation among botanic gardens. As Brockway (1979) points out, botanic gardens have had a glorious international past. This is especially true in endeavors such as plant exploration. The British, French, German, Dutch and 3 Belgian empires relied on the establishment of botanic gardens worldwide to act as imperial networks for the exploitation of plant resources.