NBI Annual Review
2001- 2002

HighlIghts
Chairman 's Report
Gardens
Research
Education
Biodiversity Policy&Planning
Marketing
HR & Finance
Financial Statements

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS 2001-2002
  • Over 1 million people visit the National Botanical Gardens (NBGs) during the year and visitor numbers increase at the Pretoria, Witwatersrand, Free State and Harold Porter NBGs.

  • The Witwatersrand NBG receives the Sanlam Business Achiever's Award in the category of Ecotourism.

  • The construction of a new Visitors' Centre and Environmental Education Centre is completed at the Pretoria NBG.

  • Kirstenbosch NBG receives the Best Tourist Attraction award in the Cape Metropolitan Area in the MTN Premier Tourism Awards.

  • New garden displays and visitor attractions are created, including a Secret Garden at the Natal NBG and a Dune Walk at the Harold Porter NBG.

  • Upgrade of the entrance area and tea garden facilities at the Witwatersrand NBG.

  • Another book is published in the Kirstenbosch Gardening Series: Grow nerines.

  • The 10th season of Appletiser Summer Sunset Concerts at Kirstenbosch raises over R1 million for the Garden.

  • The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the Environment visits both the Karoo Desert NBG and Harold Porter NBG.

  • The Natal NBG wins an award for the best plant on show at the annual Natal Clivia Show.

  • Guided Garden visits are provided for 20 800 learners through the environmental education programmes at the Pretoria, Witwatersrand and Kirstenbosch NBGs.

  • The Kirstenbosch Outreach Greening Programme begins five new school greening projects and extends 11 existing school gardens.

  • The NBI's herbaria undertake over 11 500 plant identifications.

  • The Zulu Botanical Knowledge Project begins with funding by WWF-SA and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

  • A new species of Clivia is discovered in the Northern Cape.

  • The Department of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology awards a grant to a consortium which includes the NBI to develop anti-malarial drugs from the medicinal plants of the country.

  • NBI publishes a colourful popular booklet summarizing the results of earlier climate change research, The heat is on - impacts of climate change on plant diversity in South Africa.

  • Extensive research by the NBI into South Africa's land degradation problem results in the publication of a popular book titled Nature divided.

  • The NBI is instrumental in completing a status survey and action plan for the world's cycads for the IUCN.

  • A new and very unusual species of Leucadendron is discovered by the Protea Atlas Project.

  • The Old Mutual-Kirstenbosch exhibit scoops its 24th gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.

  • Hits to the NBI website (www.nbi.ac.za) double while the use of the www.plantzafrica.com site triples. By March 2002, both sites are averaging 5 000 hits per day.

  • A new directorate is created within the NBI to focus on issues of biodiversity policy and planning.

  • The NBI's Marketing Department receives two Marketing Excellence awards from the Institute of Marketing Management (IMM).

  • The NBI's Edith Stephens Wetland Project receives the Cape Times/Caltex Outstanding Environmental Management Project Award.
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