Two Dragons Garden Project

Second year Applied Terrestrial & Marine Ecology student Sam Herniman and lecturer, Sophie Williams, show Vice-Chancellor Prof John Hughes the garden Sam designed as an internship under the 'Bangor Employability Award'. Second year Applied Terrestrial & Marine Ecology student Sam Herniman and lecturer, Sophie Williams, show Vice-Chancellor Prof John Hughes the garden Sam designed as an internship under the 'Bangor Employability Award'. An exciting new Chinese Garden is to be developed at Treborth Botanic Garden, as part of the wider project at Bangor University.

A new collection of Chinese medicinal plants is to be created at the Botanic Garden. This will form part of the Two Dragons Garden Project, which will link the University’s Treborth Botanic Garden with Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic (XTB) Garden in China’s Yunnan Province, and with project partners, the Chinese Union of Botanic Gardens, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Botanic Gardens Conservation International and the Confucius Institute at Bangor University. 

Treborth Botanic Garden will be increasing its Chinese medicinal plants collection over the next year.

Nigel Brown, Curator of Treborth Botanic Garden said:

“We are grateful to the Confucius Institute for funding the plant collection project. The new collection, once established, will be of interest to anyone interested in the Chinese cultural uses of plants, to keen gardeners and to the local Chinese community, as well as providing an excellent teaching resource for our new MSc in Plant Conservation.”

Professor John G Hughes, Vice-Chancellor of Bangor University said:

“The Two Dragons Garden Project will improve the capacity for teaching, research and knowledge exchange in the botanical sciences between Wales and China. We are especially looking forward to the opportunities it offers to welcome Chinese students and academics to Bangor and to be able to provide our own students and academics the opportunity to work with our colleagues in China through new training and exchange programmes.”

Prof Chen Jin and Prof John G Hughes exchange signed Agreements at Treborth Botanic Garden.Prof Chen Jin and Prof John G Hughes exchange signed Agreements at Treborth Botanic Garden.Prof Chen Jin, Director of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden and Chair of the Chinese Union of Botanic Gardens said:

“The new link between Treborth and XTBG is a great step forward to making stronger ties for China and Wales. The new Chinese garden at Treborth is very exciting and I am happy to be involved with this project.”

Bangor University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hughes and Professor Chen Jin signed a Memorandum of Understanding at a reception at Treborth Botanic Garden. Also attending the event was Queen’s Botanist, Prof Steve Blackmore, a former Director of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

The project has also received funding from the British Council. The event completes over a week of Chinese activities at Bangor University, which opened with the Confucius Institue’s Sound of the Two Dragons: Welsh and Chinese Music Dialogue concert on Thursday 1 May, followed by a China-Wales Literature Exchange Symposium and the launch of Bangor University’s new Centre for East Asian Studies on Friday 2 May.  A Chinese Kite Festival took place at Treborth Botanic Garden on Sunday 4 May.

 

Publication date: 2 May 2014