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Botanica garden
Martelly-Lamothe Government Asked to Fund National Botanical Garden by 2015
Thangy Armand, President of Haitian Foundation for the Environment, is pressuring Martelly-Lamothe administration to participate in planting a National Botanical Garden. A goal date of 2015 has been set to start the garden, pending the government's cooperation in allocating monies from the general fund.
To ensure the government meets the 2015 deadline, an oversight committee will check on the progress of the government as it seeks to win approval from Parliament to subsidize the project.
Haiti Government to Meet 2015 Goal for National Botanical Garden
Over two-dozen plant specialists from around the world converged on Port-au-Prince for a bio-diversity conference.
Plans to erect a National Botanical Garden were discussed, led by President Armand of Haitian Foundation for the Environment. Because Haiti's government has made no efforts to fulfill the 1987 Constitution to create a network of botanical gardens, agronomist Cinéas said an oversight committee would monitor government's progress to allocate funding from the general fund for the project by 2015.
Agronomist Scolds Haiti Government for Biodiversity Ignorance
Non-government group Haitian Foundation for the Environment (FHE) held a conference in Port-au-Prince about producing a National Botanical Garden. Participants included botanists, agronomists, and other bio-diversity specialists.
President Armand of the FHE discussed the layout of the botanical garden, to be planted on roughly 300 hectares of soil. Armand chastised the Haitian government for its negligence in fulfilling the 1987 Constitution's instructions to create botanical gardens throughout Haiti. He asks for their cooperation now.
Government of Haiti must become Ecologically Aware
The Government of Haiti (GOH) has failed to fulfill the 1987 Constitution's mandate botanical gardens must be created as part of its infrastructure.
Haiti remains undeveloped ecologically. While the remainder of the world contains 2,500 botanical gardens, Haiti has not one. Les Cayes Botanical Garden, a model of biodiversity, is a private venture.
Botanist William Cinéas is calling on the GOH to start funding a National Botanical Garden, and a network of them throughout the country by 2020.
Botanist Wants National Botanical Garden in Haiti by 2020
Haiti is behind the rest of the world in establishing a National Botanical Garden. Its only botanical garden, Les Cayes, is a private venture, developed by William Cinéas in 2004.
Over the past 21 years Haiti has signed concords to develop a national biodiversity program for botanical gardens. But the government has taken no action.
Botanist Cinéas is pushing the government to introduce guidelines it will abide by to found a National Botanical Garden network by 2020.
Botanical Gardens Used for Medical Research
Botanical gardens have a special purpose: they are reserved for the growth, study, protection, and awareness of bio-diversity.
Types of plant life found in a botanical garden include ferns, evergreens, and blooming plants.
Botanical gardens were originally developed during the Renaissance period at Italian universities. They have since been established for research and instruction in medical botany in the U.S. and Northern Europe.
The Botanic Gardens Conservation International incorporates a vast network of plant species and ecology awareness programs.
1987 Constitution Mandates a National Botanic Garden
Haiti needs more than Cayes Botanical Garden to maintain and protect its biodiversity; it needs botanical gardens strategically planted throughout the island.
The 1987 Constitution states Haiti's duty is ". . . to . . . maintain botanical . . . gardens at certain points in its territory." But a National Botanical Garden has yet to be created.
CBG has offered to fill the gap for information and is putting together a program to make Haitians aware about the benefits of preserving diverse plant species.
International Community Plans Haiti's First National Botanic Garden
In a push to develop a National Botanic Garden (NBG) in Haiti, several U.S. environmental groups, including Denver's Botanic Gardens, have partnered to plan Haiti's first NBG.
Port-au-Prince hosted a workshop for these collaborators to meet to develop an NBG in Haiti's restoration of its infrastructure. Workshop participants besides the U.S. included France, Canada, Britain, and the Dominican Republic.
Minister of Tourism, Stephanie Villedrouin, committed her department to realizing the NBG initiative.
Cayes Botanical Garden a Paradigm of Biodiversity
Cayes Botanical Garden of Haiti (CBG) is the only biodiverse garden flourishing on the island. The garden has been in existence 10 years, and has been honored with two awards as a paragon of plant species richness.
The CBG was created to offset the extinction of native plants, protect their natural habitat, and develop education literature for maintaining and advancing bio-diversity.
Although Haiti's 1987 Constitution mandates creation of botanical gardens throughout the country, it has yet to happen.