Celebrating the Kirstenbosch Centenary, coordinated by Professor Brian J. Huntley, Department of Botany, UCT, and former CEO, SANBI, Kirstenbosch runs this week – 21 to 25 January.
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden celebrates its centenary in 2013. Established on 1 July 1913, it has developed into one of the world’s top ten botanical gardens. Its dramatic setting on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, its focus on the spectacular flora of the Cape floral kingdom and the excellence of its horticultural, scientific and environmental education projects have made it a model emulated across South Africa’s eight other national botanical gardens. From being an institution wholly dependent on government funding until the 1990s, Kirstenbosch is now a financially sustainable garden, attracting over 750 000 visitors a year. This course will highlight the history of the garden, its close links with Kew, the rich and varied flora of South Africa, the problems of endangered species, the contribution of research projects to climate change and other emerging environmental issues as well as our broadening knowledge of traditional plant use.
LECTURE TITLES
1. The Kirstenbosch story: the ‘Kew of South Africa’ (Prof Brian Huntley)
2. The flora of South Africa: our rich and beautiful natural heritage (Dr John Manning)
3. Cycads: plants that lived with the dinosaurs – and which are being
loved to death (Prof John Donaldson)
4. Traditional plant use: demystifying ‘muti’ plants (Phakamani Xaba)
5. Climate change and fynbos futures (Prof Guy Midgley)
The lecturers are all associated with SANBI.
Date: 21–25 January
Time: 9.15 am
Course fees: Full: R350,00
Staff: R175,00
Reduced: R88,00
Program details
via UCT Summer School – Celebrating the Kirstenbosch Centenary | Cape Town Green Map.
