National Herbarium of Haiti

Modern history is rife with examples of museum lootings and artifact destruction due to political instability. What about natural history collections?

The E.L. Ekman Herbarium, the National Herbarium of Haiti, has suffered some equipment losses due to recent political instability. The plant collection was not damaged, however.

Named after Erik Leonard Ekman, the facility houses collections from a number of botanists, but with a strong emphasis on Ekman's Caribbean collections.

A Canadian professor, Martin Dubé of the Université de Moncton, has been working with Jean Arsène Constant of the Université d'État d'Haïti to restore and database the specimens held within the herbarium. Financial assistance has been received from organizations around the globe.

Link: Ekman Herbarium

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:27 PM on April 12, 2004