Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University

Mission:'To promote and enrich the flora of the Lake Baikal area and the world through public education, collection of plants, research, and conservation'.

The Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University (BGISU) occupies 27 hectares within Irkutsk city, 70 kilometers west of Lake Baikal. The BGISU is the only botanical garden in Irkutsk region and in the Baikalian Siberia included in International Directory of Botanical Gardens. It is categorized by law as a strictly protected natural territory within the capital of Irkutsk Oblast. As a living museum the BGISU serves as an educational tool for students and general public.

The BGISU is organized into the following sections:

Educational Programs. Outdoors display collections and educational greenhouses with over 600 species of ornamental and tropical plants.
Regional Flora. Maintains over 300 herbaceous species and consists of herbarium, seed bank, and three living collections: systematicum, medicinal herbs, and rare and endangered plants of Central Siberia.
Dendrology (Arboretum). Maintains about 300 species of trees and schrubs from Central Siberia and Russian Far East.
Biotechnology of Plant Propagation. Maintains over 200 species and varieties of fruiting plants for large-scale propagation and sales for public and siberian gardeners.
Maintenance Department.

Today the BGISU is involved in:

Public Education (Training courses; Consulting; Guided excursions; Baikal eco-tours and expeditions).
Horticultural Innovations (Evaluation and Introduction of new species and varieties; Biotechnology of large-scale clonal propagation and multiplication of valuable plants; Nursery establishment; Plant Sales; International Seed exchange; etc).
Nature Resource Management (Plant Gene Banking project for biodiversity conservation (ex situ); Restoration of damaged populations; Computerized Data Base and Information System of plant genetic resources in Baikalian Siberia; Green Irkutsk project).

Since it is primarily an educational arm of the university, BGISU is not generally open to the public (though guided tours are available.) To help us increase our public role, we have established cooperative arrangements with the Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois, REAP International, Iowa, Betchart Expeditions Inc. of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Baikal Watch. We hope to make other, mutually beneficial contacts with institutions and individuals interested in helping to establish a first-rate Botanic Garden for the environmentally unique Lake Baikal area -- a proposed 'World Heritage Site'.

Contacting the Botanic Garden:

Web: http://www.isu.ru/insts/botsad/indexe.htm
Dr.Victor Kuzevanov, Director
93 Koltsov Street
P.O. Box 1457
Irkutsk
664039
Russia
Phone: +7-(395-2)-435836
Fax: +7-(395-2)-332238
Email: vic@bogard.isu.runnet.ru

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