The First International Symposium on
Botanical Gardens and Landscapes
(BGL 2019)

Report of The First International Symposium on Botanical Gardens and Landscapes

      The First International Symposium on Botanical Gardens and Landscapes (BGL 2019) was successfully held on December 2-4, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand. The symposium was organized by the Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, under the auspices of the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and with the support of the Nikita Botanical Gardens, the Plant Genetic Conservation Project under the Royal Initiative of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (RSPG), the Department of Agriculture (DOA), the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR), and the Suan Luang Rama IX Garden.
      The symposium attracted 148 participants which included presenters, accompanying people, staff, researchers, and government agents from 14 countries around the world (Cambodia, China, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, and USA), who shared their knowledge and experiences on a wide range of topics in botanical gardens and landscapes.
      The symposium was opened by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanchit Thammasiri, Symposium Convener, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Puangpaka Umpunjun, the Head of Department of Plant Science and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Palangpon Kongsaeree, the Dean of Faculty of Science, and was followed by a welcome address and ISHS presentation by Prof. Dr. Francesco Orseni, ISHS representative and Chair, Division Landscapes and Urban Horticulture followed by Dr. Yuri Plugatar, the Director of Nikita Botanical Gardens giving a welcome address and introducing the Nikita Botanical Gardens. Then, Prof. Dr. Francesco Orseni presented the ISHS certificate and medal to the convener. The souvenirs to the symposium sponsors were presented by the convener and the opening ceremony ended with group photographs.
      There were two days (December 2 and 3) of scientific program, starting with one keynote speaker, Prof. Shengji Pei, Kunming Institute of Botany, China and four invited speakers, namely Prof. Dr. Hugh W. Pritchard, Royal Botanic gardens, Kew, United Kingdom; Prof. Dr. Chunlin Long, Minzu University of China, China; Prof. Dr. Francesco Orseni, Bologna University, Italy; and Prof. Dr. Irina Mitrofanova, the Nikita Botanical Gardens, Russia; then, 36 oral presentations were divided into five sessions, Researches in Botanical Gardens, Researches in Landscapes, Researches in Plant Conservation, Researches in Plant Tissue Culture, and Researches in Production, Physiological, Phytochemical, and Molecular Studies. In addition, 64 poster presentations were presented for both days. All oral and poster presentations were of interest to participants, who responded and shared knowledge and experiences with questions, suggestions, and discussion. Further discussions occurred during the breaks, lunches, welcome dinner, and technical tour, which encouraged the participants to exchange research ideas, projects, and common interests.       The social program of the symposium included a welcome dinner and a cultural show in the venue hotel and a technical tour. The participants enjoyed the food and were entertained by a cultural show relating to old Thai history. Many pictures were taken and the participants enjoyed talking with old friends and meeting with new friends.
      At the end of the second day, a business meeting was arranged by Prof. Dr. Francesco Orseni and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanchit Thammasiri. It was agreed by all participants that a working group would be beneficial to carry on the momentum established by this first symposium. Participants in the business meeting agreed to join the working group for Botanical Gardens, once its creation is agreed by ISHS. Prof. Dr. Francesco Orseni proposed that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanchit Thammasiri serves as Chair for this working group. Prof. Dr. Hugh W. Pritchard seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously. The ISHS young minds awards were presented to Ms. Wipawee Nilapaka, Ph.D. candidate from Mahidol University, Thailand, for the best student oral presentation, “Floral visitors of Kluai Bua Si Som (Musa rubra: Musaceae): an ornamental plant in Thailand” and Mr. Rodjanacorn Chuengpanya, Ph.D. candidate from Mahidol university, Thailand, for the best student poster presentation, “In vitro propagation and callus induction of Hedychium longicornutum Griff. ex Baker using different explants”. Subsequently, it was decided to hold the Second International Symposium on Botanical Gardens and Landscapes in Russia in June 1-4, 2021 (Conveners: Prof. Dr. Irina Mitrofanova and Dr. Yuri Plugatar, the Nikita Botanical Gardens). The third sympposium will be in India in 2023 (Convener: Dr. N. S. Pradeep, KSCSTE-Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute for Plant Sciences). At the end of the symposium, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kanchit Thammasiri expressed his appreciation to all participants, to sponsors of the symposium and to all members of the Organizing Committee for their efforts and contributions.
      The last day (December 4) was entirely dedicated to a technical tour in the Suan Luang Rama IX Garden. The garden established in 1989 to celebrate King Bhumibol’s 60th Birthday. The main objective of the garden is to promote botanical knowledge through research and collections of plants, as well as to provide a venue for relaxation and instill the stewardship of natural resource and environment in general populace. The garden is the largest green space in Bangkok with a beautiful botanical garden, a large lake, and gardens inspired by countries around the world. The garden covers an area of about 200 acres with all of standard park features, including extensive playgrounds, swan boats, well-groomed gardens and tree-lined lanes. The participants were very interested in the garden.
  The book of abstracts is available at the symposium website: plantscience.sc.mahidol.ac.th/bgl2019. The proceedings of the symposium will be published as a volume of Acta Horticulturae after editorial review.

Last but not least, thank you very much to all the participants for making this symposium a great success !!!!

With best wishes,
Kanchit Thammasiri

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BGL2019 Program & Abstracts	Poster	International Symposium on Plant Cryopreservation
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