Kirstenbosch - the most beautiful garden in Africa

Kirstenbosch - the most beautiful garden in Africa

February 7, 2014
Missouri Botanical Garden: St. Louis, MO

Kirstenbosch is a name that resonates across the horticultural and gardening world as the home of a uniquely beautiful flora in a setting of unsurpassed beauty. Situated at the southern tip of Africa, in the epicenter of the famously rich Cape Floral Kingdom, Kirstenbosch has been admired by visitors to the Cape for over 200 years. Since formal establishment in 1913, it has been the flagship of South Africa’s network of nine national botanical gardens.

This richly illustrated lecture by Brian Huntley—a key leader of the post-Apartheid transformation of plant conservation in southern Africa—will describe the long history of botanical exploration of the region, the trials and triumphs of discovery, and the remarkable personalities and plants contributing to what is now regarded as one of the "magnificent seven" botanical gardens of the world. As a base for research, environmental education, and outreach, Kirstenbosch has had a major influence on the development of professional capacity and biodiversity science and conservation across Africa.

Location
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63110

Directions

Date and time
Friday, February 7, 2014
2 p.m.

Admission to the lecture is FREE.

About the speaker
Brian J. Huntley is an internationally respected conservation scientist with over 45 years of field research and management experience in many African countries. He has initiated and led to successful conclusion several major inter-disciplinary cooperative research and institutional development projects, and has visited over 50 countries as an invited speaker/reviewer of conservation activities. Following retirement as CEO of the South African National Biodiversity Institute, he is now engaged as an independent consultant on conservation projects in several African countries and in reviews of conservation projects around the world. His work has been recognized by his election as a Vice President of the Royal Horticultural Society, UK, and as a “Corresponding Member” of the Botanical Society of America. He has also received the award of the Pritzlaf Medal by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the Kew International Medal, the Le Roe Award by the Society for Conservation Biology, and many awards in his home country, South Africa, including the Kirstenbosch Centenary Gold Medal for his contribution to botanical gardens in Africa.