|
| José Celestino Mutis founded the first Botanic Garden in Colombia, in Mariquita, Tolima. Once the Botanic Expedition was based in Bogota, Mutis founded a small garden, there next to the Astronomical Observatory. But the liberation troops of 1916 destroyed the little garden and the House of Botany. The only remainders were the beautiful plant iconography, known today as “The Royal Flora of the Botanic Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada”. |  |
 |
The Colombian consolidation as a new nation, which brought about civil wars in the last century and permanent disturbances, did not give a chance to botany researchers to create a botanic garden. Only about a century and a half later could Dr. Enrique Pérez-Arbeláez, a naturalist, suggest the foundation of a botanic garden. It was in 1937, when he was trying to create a school of Botany in the National University. But his dream of a botanic garden only came true on August 6 1995, when the Council of Bogota gave him 43.34 acres as a contract of loan and restitution in the former “Bosque Popular.” He named the place Botanic Garden of Bogota "Jose Celestino Mutis" in memory of the father of the country’s scientific and cultural life. |
| While working in the Garden, Dr. E. Pérez-Arbeláez realized that the botanic garden in Bogota should not be the only one in the country. He started to design more: one garden in Cúcuta to exhibit the floral resources of Catatumbo, Zulia and the hot region adjacent to the Maracaibo lake; one garden in Medellín, which should have special facilities to cover not only the floral resources of the temperate climate, but also those of Chocó and Urabá; another garden in Cartagena for the Atlantic Coast; and another in Villavicencio to gather the varieties of palms of the hot climate, and in special facilities those of the Amazon. He also studied the possibility of arboretums to collect regional flora in the main cities of the country and in other important cities known as “intermediate.” In other words, he wanted to plant the country with institutions that seek to rescue the native floral resources of each area and to preserve their hydrographic resources as well. |
| After some years, the following botanic gardens
were founded Botanic
Garden "Joaquín Antonio Uribe" in Medellín; Botanic Garden "Juan
María Céspedes" in Tuluá; Botanic Garden "Alejandro Humboldt" in
Ibagué; Botanic Garden Obunuco in Pasto; Botanic Garden "Guillermo Piñeres" in
Cartagena; Botanic Garden "Alejandro Humboldt" in Marsella; Botanic Garden
Uchuvo in Mompox; Botanic Garden "Juan Eloy Valenzuela" in Bucaramanga and some
others that are just beginning to operate. (ARANGO, 1987). Everyday there were projects and ideas to create new botanic gardens in various places of the country. But in order to achieve that it was necessary to establish hundreds of of parameters that defined and distinguished a botanic garden from any other place whose aim was preservation. |
 |
| Thus, Dr. Víctor Manuel Patiño, convinced
that it was essential for Botanic Gardens to know each other and cooperate with each
other, suggested the idea of having meetings among Botanic Gardens in Colombia.
(CESPEDECIA, 1976) The first meeting was held in Medellín on September 12th and 13th, 1975. Later on, there was a second meeting in Mateguadua, Tuluá on August 25th, 1976. The third one took place in Bogotá from the 26th through the 28th October 1977. A fourth one took place in Marsella, Risaralda from the 2nd through the 4th December 1987. And finally the fifth one was held in Calarcá on March 2nd and 3rd, 1995. |
 |
Those meetings dealt with topics such as the useless idea of duplicating work and the convenience of planting native species of the region where each botanic garden was located. Those species should grow and reproduce better in outdoors crops. Also it was concluded that one of the major problems of the Botanic Gardens in Colombia was the lack of knowledge about what a botanic garden really was and what benefits it would bring to the community. |
After the National Net of Botanic Gardens in Colombia was created, certain parameters and criteria were defined and are evaluated periodically in order to support the Gardens allready established and encourage the constitution of new ones.
This organization structured and organized duties in such a way that it avoided unnecessary labor and supported cooperation among both national and international Botanic Gardens. Cooperation regarding issues of preservation, research, and education was possible through government and non-government organizations at local, regional, and international level. Also, many issues concerning the role of Botanic Gardens in Colombia were covered with this new organization.
In 1988, the V meeting of Botanic Gardens was
held and the National Net was established. Ten years later, with the cooperation of the
Institute Alexander von Humboldt, the first draft of the National
Plan for Botanic Gardens that contained the most relevant parameters was developed in
Villa de Leyva.
 |
|
