Botanical Gardens

Every few years or so some campaign emerges to restore the zoo and surrounding areas of the Botanical Gardens. Whatever commitments are announced to the contrary these are invariably temporary efforts, dependent as they are on volunteer labour. But now, it seems, the government has something far more ambitious in mind. 

The zoo and Botanical Gardens are to undergo what has been called a massive transformation as part of the government’s Low Carbon Development Strategy. According to DPI,  preliminary plans involve an emphasis on wildlife conservation and educating the public on Guyana’s biodiversity. Where the Gardens in particular are concerned, the government is contemplating a design which would tell the story of Guyana’s landscape, from the rainforests to the savannahs and wetlands, with the intention of conveying a flavour of the country’s scenery.

In their origin the Botanical Gardens had the same objectives of all such gardens everywhere in the world at the time, and in their heyday were regarded as being of importance among those in tropical regions. Starting in 1879, they were formed out of 185 acres of the back lands of Plantation Vlissengen. The swampy conditions of the ground made drainage a challenge, a problem which was not satisfactorily resolved for some years.

The man employed as Superintendent was G. S. Jenman, a botanist of some considerable talent, but who at a human level acquired a reputation for cantankerousness. When he asked for some means of transport to get him around the gardens – his deputy, Waby, had been given a pony and trap – with a certain facetiousness, perhaps, the Council with whom he was often at odds presented him with a mule. It might be noted in passing that the current Castellani House was built to accommodate him, although he refused to move in until certain alterations were done.

As a professional, however, he had considerable prestige and among many other things went about trying to assemble the largest collection of palmaceae in the world at the time. At a larger level his aim seems to have been to establish a wild garden, “where beasts and birds could harbour unmolested,” to use Rodway’s words. “To the lover of nature it was a most interesting place,” he wrote; “here could be found many of the birds of the forest and swamp … In fact, it was an ideal spot for the naturalist.”

Whether something like this is what the government now has in mind is by no means clear, but in any case after Jenman died there were those who did not understand what he was trying to do in terms of collecting botanical specimens and creating a wild garden; to them it was little more than glorified bush. This attitude became particularly prevalent after Independence, when Forbes Burnham, and his successors, it might be added, treated the Gardens as little better than empty acreage to be utilised for whatever purposes appeared expedient.

The first misuse of the Gardens took a rather special form, when after his death in 1969, Governor General of Guyana David Rose was laid to rest in the part known as Seven Ponds. Other interments followed, most recently the ashes of Shridath Ramphal. It was to turn what was supposedly a botanical space into a cemetery, surely a perversion of the whole purpose of the Gardens. Hopefully now that there are intimations about having the area revert to some version of its original purpose, the powers-that-be will decide that Ramphal should be the last person of prominence to find their final resting place there.

If the gravestones at Seven Ponds are at least reasonably discreet, the same cannot be said of Burnham’s Mausoleum, which under no circumstances should have found its home in its present location. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done about it now.

Apart from those distortions, Burnham drove Sheriff Street through the Gardens, which few complained about at the time because of the convenience. Then Viola Burnham was leased land for a farm there and instead of the soft footfall of some local species, buffalo roamed Mr Jenman’s wild spaces. Not to be outdone, it was a PPP/C government which allocated a generous portion for the Chinese to build the most architecturally ill-favoured structure known to diplomatic edifices in our local universe.

All of that said, we are where we are, and however belated the news that the government will be investing in the Gardens and zoo it is certainly welcome. The full details of what it and the Protected Areas Commission have in mind have not yet been clarified at a public level. What telling the story of Guyana’s landscape really means in practice, for instance, is quite unclear, since scenically speaking all the various habitats could not be reproduced in Georgetown. What could be done is to have a series of videos of the topography, vegetation and biodiversity of the nation at large laid on for children and tourists.    

What one would hope is that the authorities would collect botanical, perhaps specialist specimens from the various areas of the country which could be provided with a suitable local environment in terms of temperature and humidity, etc. In some cases these would require glass houses. (Why don’t we have an orchid house, for example?)

However, if anyone is looking for botanical specimens from Guyana, they had best go to somewhere like Kew Gardens in London. Some readers will remember this newspaper’s late gardening columnist, John Warrington, who first came to this country to collect pitcher plants from the Roraima area when working as a botanist for Kew.

Before the Commission and the government alight on a template for the Gardens, they would need some expert advice about the possibilities. At this stage that would have to come from outside, such as from the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens, one of the world’s great tropical gardens which dates back to 1808. There are other Gardens in this hemisphere, including in Brazil itself, which have collections reflecting our kind of environment and ecology and which might be willing to offer assistance.

It also has to be said that if the authorities are serious about their proposals to redeem our Botanical Garden and then maintain it, they will need to employ professional botanists, not just for caring for the plants, which can be done by trained gardeners, but for acquisition purposes. Specialist collections, although not necessarily the ones Jenman had in mind, might seem to beckon, and the Gardens could also work with UG. This does not mean that they would not attract children and tourists, in the same way as do Rio and Kew.

This is one instance where rushing in to make decisions before all the possibilities and impediments have been explored would be a serious error. This time the government which has a habit of barrelling in with new projects needs to restrain its zealousness and act against type.

The same must also be said in relation to the proposals for the zoo, which are not discussed here. According to Vice President Bharat Jagdeo the plan is for a safari-style zoo, which is certainly a compelling idea.  However, DPI reported that the government will soon issue a prospectus for private investors to develop such a zoo model in Guyana. Before they issue any prospectus for a private company, they will need to have listened to advice from consultants associated with similar zoos in this hemisphere, and there a quite a few.

Where the Gardens and zoo are concerned, the government should adopt a motto:  Expertise first, decisions and contracts later.