A joint meeting with the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA), previously known as the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA).

4th International Biennial Parks Leadership Conference: Common Ground

Luna Park, Sydney, Australia 24 – 26 August 2010
Urban parks, urban growth, and the sustainable health of communities.

Parks leaders and managers are invited to come together in Sydney to discuss how we can work together to find common ground, across constituencies of interest, to sustain parks and green space into the future.

Parks have a critical role to play protecting and maintaining our natural and cultural heritage and building social connections for human well-being. New partnerships are needed to respond to rapid social change. More than ever, we need to find common ground, with each other and with other sectors to manage our parks for the future.

Just some highlights include:

Hon. Bob Carr: former NSW Premier
Shaun Dawson: CEO, Lee Valley Parklands Authority , UK
Prof Jean Palutikof: Director, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility at Griffith University
Barbara Tulipane: CEO National Recreation and Park Association USA
Greg Moore: Executive Director, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, California
Ian Macfarlane: strategic marketer responsible for 100% Pure New Zealand, Very Gold Coast Very GC & So where the bloody hell are you?
A range of full day field trips on 25th August.

To register, visit www.parksforum2010.org and complete the registration form.

For further conference information:

Email parksforum2010@icms.com.au
Call the Conference Organiser, ICMS on +61 2 9290 3366.

Workshops/Courses

Irrigation Australia - Irrigation Efficiency Courses during 2010

For further information visit the Irrigation Australia website

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Other news - awards, competitions, exhibitions

Photograph a magical moment in an Australian Botanic Garden

Friends of The Gardens, the voluntary organisation that supports the three Sydney Botanic Gardens has initiated the Gardens in Focus Photography Competition and is inviting you to show off your talents and win up to $12,000 in prizes. Winning photos will be showcased in a major Botanic Gardens display. The competition is open to professional, amateur and student photographers and is easy to enter - just submit digital photographs online that capture plants, people or a special place taken in a favourite Australian Botanic Garden*.

Entries close 10 December 2010

For further information see the wesbite at: http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/welcome_to_bgt/feature_stories/Gardens_in_Focus_Photography_Competition

* Botanic Garden is defined as having the word Botanic/Botanical in its name or title

Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens - Launch
7 August 2010, Bowral NSW

Wingecarribee Shire Council recently approved the establishment of the Southern Highlands Botanic Gardens (SHBG).

Ten years of research and preparatory work plus Councils approval now enables the Friends group to start work on the Old Skin Shed site at the corner of Old South Road and Kangaloon Road, East Bowral. The SHBG will proceed to develop a comprehensive Master Plan for the site.

The Friends plan on launching the Gardens on 7th August with a tree planting ceremony at which a number of dignitaries will plant the ‘Foundation Avenue’.

For further information:
http://www.cwebb.com.au/shbg.htm (includes current newsletter)
Telephone: 02 4861 4899
Street Adress: 399 Bong Bong Street, BOWRAL, NSW AUSTRALIA 2576
Postal address: PO Box 707 MOSS VALE NSW AUSTRALIA 2577
shbg@cwebb.com.au

Plantings Commence at the Oman Botanic Garden!

Oman Botanic gardens nursery and footprint of the Research and Education facilities and Orientation centre
Oman Botanic gardens nursery and footprint of the Research
and Education facilities and Orientation centre

Download full article with photos [pdf]

The Oman Botanic Garden has celebrated the planting of its first habitat display. This first exhibit highlights the flora of Oman’s northern gravel desert which extends naturally into the area of the botanic garden itself. In the lower areas on foothills the vegetation is dominated by Euphorbia larica-Acacia tortilis woodland associated by low scrubland. Higher on the foot hills on more rocky ground, the endemic Barleria aucheriana becomes more frequent.

All of the plants that were planted were grown at the botanic garden’s nursery from seed that had been collected by garden staff over the last 3 years. The habitat planting has brought into cultivation many species of plants that have never been grown before and it will greatly assist to encourage the use of Oman’s indigenous species in horticulture.

The exhibit will also provide visitors with a much better impression of the gravel desert’s flora and will interpret the relationships between some of the plants and the people who have lived in the region for thousands of years.

This first planting played an important role in training the staff of the botanic garden to better understand the planting process and the re-creation of the natural habitat in which the plants grow.

The planting of the Northern Gravel Desert is a part of Phase Two of the Oman Botanic Garden’s development. This second phase also includes the construction of the Orientation Centre and the Heritage Village as well as the Research Centre (including laboratories, a library and the herbarium) and the Education Department’s Field Study Centre. The next area to be planted will be the sand dune habitat and it is planned be done in October this year.

Representatives of both BGCI and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh assisted with the planting and the rehabilitation. Both organisations have played an important role in providing support throughout the development of the Oman Botanic Garden.

To learn more about the Oman Botanic Garden and go to http://www.oman-botanic-garden.org/ and register for regular updates in English or Arabic.

Plants for the Planet

Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) has recently launched a new on-line campaign ‘Plants for the Planet’ to generate public support for plant conservation.

The aim is to gather signatures from people around the world in order to ensure that governments adopt the updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation at the next Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Support for the campaign will help BGCI to send a strong message to the Conference that countries must act now to halt plant extinction.

The website www.plantsfortheplanet.com is now live and everybody is encouraged to sign up. Please pass this information on to your networks and friends. It only takes a few seconds to register on the site and there is an option to do this anonymously if you prefer.

BGCI is also very keen for as many institutions as possible to make a link to www.plantsfortheplanet.com. A small icon has been provided when you link your website (click on image above to download).

INTERNATIONAL GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - CALL FOR ENTRIES

PRESS RELEASE

Don’t miss the chance to be part of this prestigious competition and exhibition!

Over the past three years, numerous Botanic Gardens from around the world have been featured in the entries we receive for the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. We would love to see more again this year.

We would greatly appreciate your help in promoting the fourth annual IGPOTY competition to the Friends and visitors of your Botanic Garden - on your website or in your magazine / newsletter. Alternatively we can post IGPOTY promotional material to you for distribution to your visitors and maybe your Botanic Garden will be featured in one of IGPOTY’s winning photographs!

Some of last year’s winners featured the following gardens…
Jardín Botánico Wilson, Costa Rica.
Akashi Botanical Gardens, Japan.
La Concepción Historical-Botanical Gardens, Malaga, Spain.
Botanical Garden of Berlin, Germany.
Oxford Botanical Gardens, England

There are six categories in the fourth competition, with awards for single images as well as portfolios.
There is a special award for the image that best portrays the ‘Spirit of the American Garden’.
Deadline – 30 November 2010.

For more information and to enter visit www.igpoty.com

Notes to Editors

Please contact Mary Denton at press@igpoty.com or ph: +44 (0)1295 712288:

To request a delivery of IGPOTY leaflets to distribute to visitors
For further press information and/or inspirational high resolution images.
High-quality material on garden photography from leading photographers will be gratefully supplied in return for promotion of the IGPOTY competition.

The closing date for submissions for the third IGPOTY competition is November 30 2010. Entries should be made online at www.igpoty.com

Download Press Release [pdf]