Our experience at the 8th Global Botanic Gardens Conference

Day 1

Honoured to present the work of our young organisation at the 8th Global Botanic Gardens Conference held in Singapore this year.

Preeti presented the research and outreach work Saryan Vigyan Foundation has been doing for the past 7 months - including seed collections and live collections of threatened plant species. She also spoke about our community engagement projects - including Project Tenfa where we are collaborating with Zed.tells to holistically document Kinnauri culture and traditional ecological knowledge, along with some upcoming projects that we are very excited to work on.

Her talk was well received by the BG community and has opened up avenues for potential collaborations in other Himalayan regions - including Nepal. We spoke to Sh. Parshuram Sharma Nirula Ji who runs a community education platform called CEEN (Centre for Environmental Education, Nepal) in Nepal & are hoping to collaborate with his organisation in 2025.

We ended the day by visiting the breathtaking Botanical Gardens of Singapore. Good to know that Cristiano Ronaldo is a fellow #plantnerd too 🤓💚🌱🌿

Day 2

Animakshi presented the community engagement aspect of our work at the Saryan Vigyan Foundation. She specifically spoke about the data driven methods we employed to compare actual income of farmers with the famous Swaminathan formula. This work has helped us start an important dialogue on the pros and cons of natural/organic farming versus chemical farming—particularly as the latter is pushing many native plant species toward extinction.

We were deeply honoured to speak with Professor Stephen Blackmore, who not only took notice of our work but also followed up with insightful advice on some of the challenges we are encountering. His recognition of our efforts and his thoughtful guidance mean a great deal to us! We are excited to put his advice into practice in the near future.

Finally, this work would not be possible without the help our community members, including online participants, members from Khadara village and from Shalkar village - without whose participation this work would have not been possible. A big thank also to Navrang Yuvak Mandal, Khadura. A big thanks to all of you!!! ☺️💚🌿🌱

PS: The Garden Festival at the convention centre was a special treat ^.^

Day 3

We had another exciting day at the conference, connecting with many like-minded individuals dedicated to conservation and biodiversity.

We are profoundly grateful to HRH Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan, who graciously took the time to engage in a meaningful conversation about the future direction of our organization. Words cannot adequately express our appreciation for her support and wisdom. And we can’t wait to visit the Royal Botanical Garden of Jordan when it welcomes the public.

We are also extremely excited to get a copy of her forthcoming book, which documents traditional recipes crafted from native plants of Jordan. Hoping to seek out some of these plants or their relatives within our own village and try out these recipes ourselves. 💚😊🌱

Day 4

As we wrap up the final day of the 8th Global Botanical Gardens Congress, we find ourselves taking away far more than we ever anticipated. We are deeply grateful to everyone at the Congress for making our first time here so memorable and impactful.

We’re especially grateful to entire team at BGCI — Jana, Greetha, David, Bian, and many others who warmly welcomed us into this vibrant community. A special shoutout to Dr. Vinita Gowda for her invaluable guidance as we explored the exciting world of botanical gardens. We truly appreciate all your support and kindness! 🙏💚