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Memorandum on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
What are the Conservation Goals of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research?
The fundamental aim of the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research is the conservation of plant life on Earth through:
- scientific research on biodiversity
- public and student education on the importance of plants and the threats to them
- maintaining living plants in trust and in situ for the conservation of genetic resources
- promoting global sustainability in the spirit of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
What is the Convention on Biological Diversity?
At Rio in 1992, Canada, along with most other countries, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. The goal of the agreement was the conservation of biological resources for all. Specifically, it agreed that:
- states have sovereign rights over their biological natural resources
- states will endeavour to make available their biological natural resources for appropriate scientific and environmentally sound uses
- that in the event of commercial end-use of biological natural resources, the user has responsibility to ensure equitable benefit sharing with the state of origin.
What is UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research's Code of Conduct in Relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity?
UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research intends to act within the letter and spirit of the Convention by:
- obtaining only material that has been legally collected, with transparent documentation
- maintaining transparent and accurate documentation of plants in the collections
- carefully maintaining living collections for conservation and education
- distributing material only to those institutions and individuals agreeing (by signing a materials transfer agreement) to act within the spirit and letter of the CBD
- working in benefit-sharing partnerships with institutions in other countries to further common goals of the conservation of biological natural resources