Protecting Traditional Knowledge of Plants

Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues

According to a report by the United Nations University, current international law forces indigenous peoples to put their traditional knowledge, often carefully guarded by cultural ritual, into the public domain.

National patent agencies require access to the traditional knowledge to make the determination whether products are in fact new or a part of the customary uses of indigenous peoples. The UNU report looks at the issue and proposes policy changes to protect the heritage of native cultures.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:45 PM

Pollution Killing Rare Stoneworts

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation

Stoneworts are considered to be important for understanding the evolutionary origin of land plants. Plantlife International claims nitrate and phospate runoff is threatening to exterminate many of the species found in Britain.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:16 PM

New Research on Invasives and Ecological Restoration

Category(-ies): Invasive Plants , Plant Conservation

Ecological and habitat restoration are becoming increasingly significant areas of research as species dwindle due to habitat loss or displacement via invasive species. Researchers will be gathering in Victoria in August to present findings and solutions to the problems of damaged ecosystems and plant invasions at SER2004, the Society for Ecological Restoration International's 16th annual World Conference.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:35 PM

A Delightfully Horrible Garden

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens , Plants, Food and Medicine

The Alnwick Garden in Britain is opening the “Poison Garden” in August of 2004. The Poison Garden will feature some familiar plants such as belladonna and foxglove (which can both be seen in the UBC Physic Garden), but visitors to the Alnwick Gardens will also see many plants that they are unlikely to encounter elsewhere, such as coca and strychnine.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:14 PM

More Bad News for RBG in Hamilton

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton is seeking an extra $1.7 million in annual operating funds from the provincial government of Ontario. Administrators are making the case that they are underfunded by the province compared to other similar agencies. A tour has been set up for Ontario Culture Minister Madeleine Meilleur so she can see firsthand the value of the gardens and the potential loss if regular maintenance cannot be sustained.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:11 PM

A Limit on Tree Height?

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

How tall can trees grow? Probably not much higher than the tallest trees now living, according to research done by George Koch of Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff and his colleagues.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 5:21 PM