Irkutsk, Russia
Dear Directors,
As I was told recently, that your university has proposed an idea of
the transformation of the Hortus Botanicus of the Vrije Universiteit
in Amsterdam into the hospital of the Vrije Universiteit Medical
Center (VUMC).
It is a bad idea and a great mistake! Please don’t do it!
Please do no allow a destruction the Hortus Botanicus of the Vrije
Universiteit in Amsterdam!
Our scientific studies of the socio-economical functions and roles of
world botanic gardens during last 300 years (1700-2009) show that
current and future hopes of humankind and highly urbanized
civilizations depend on development of resources botanic gardens
(Please see publications in P.S.).
Based on comparative studies of world botanic gardens during the
period of 300 years in Russia and 152 countries it is proposed a
paradigm of the botanic garden as a unique socio-economical and
ecological object of managed tangible and intangible resources linking
natural heritage (biodiversity) and cultural with a society and human
well-being via science, education, plant introduction, ecological
restoration and conservation, horticultural therapy, producation of
plants and commercialization of innovations. Contemporate network of
botanic gardens should be considered as complex ecological resources
crucial for the sustainable civilization development.
The Hortus Botanicus of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam is an
excellent representative of natural and cultural heritage of the world
significance!
Hopefully you and your Board members are wyse people and you all could
find a better solution excluding the desintegration of your university
botanic garden - a world heritage site!
It needs your protection!
Thank you for your understanding!
Dr. Victor Kuzevanov, Ph.D.
Director
Botanic Garden of Irkutsk State University
93 Koltsov Street, P.O. Box 48
Irkutsk, 664039, Russia
Phone/FAX: +7(3952)413476
Mobile +7-9-149-279-139
Email: victor.kuzevanov@gmail.com or vic@bg.isu.ru
INTERNET: http://bogard.isu.ru/indexe.htm
P.S. Publictions:
1) Golding J., Güsewell S., Kreft H., Kuzevanov V. Y., Lehvävirta S.,
Parmentier I., Pautasso M. Species-richness patterns of the living
collections of the world’s botanic gardens: a matter of
socio-economics? // Annals of Botany. 2010. No. 105. P. 689-696.
[http://bogard.isu.ru/articles/2010_annbot/annbot08093_100318.pdf]
2) Kuzevanov V.Ya., Sizykh S.V., Gubiy E.V. Botanic gardens as
ecological resources in a global system of social coordinates. In:
Problems of modern economics. St.-Petersburg: NPK Rost Publishing
House, 2010. - p. 158-167.
[http://bogard.isu.ru/articles/2009_econom/bgs_soccoord_091221.pdf]
3) Waylen, K. Botanic gardens: using biodiversity to improve human
well-being. Richmond, (UK): Botanic Gardens Conservation
International, 2006. - 24 p.
[http://www.bgci.org/files/Worldwide/Wellbeing/Presspack/wellbeing.pdf]