Abstract:

Background: Botanical gardens worldwide have evolved from their historical origins as aesthetic gardens to contemporary scientific institutions, emerging as pivotal force in biodiversity conservation. Functioning as key institutions for biodiversity protection, scientific research, and public education, national botanic gardens have garnered growing attention regarding their development status. This paper conducts a systematic analysis of national botanical garden systems of the United Kingdom, France, Russia, South Africa, and other representative nations, synthesizing insights from their strategic approaches to organizational structure, research coordination, and functional prioritization.

Findings: To strengthen biodiversity conservation efforts and enhance international impact, national botanical gardens globally are adopting comprehensive strategies. These strategies include clarifying institutional missions, reinforcing conservation-focused research assessment mechanisms, implementing standardized protocols for managing living plant collections, advancing the digital curation of scientific collections, and innovating paradigms for plant resource utilization.

Recommendations: China’s national botanical garden system should prioritize its core mission of plant biodiversity conservation by establishing a scientifically rigorous ex situ conservation network. This entails advancing taxonomic research, developing integrated conservation strategies and wild reintroduction techniques for rare and endangered species, and creating nature education platforms to enhance public engagement. In the future, China’s national botanical garden system is expected to strategically align ex situ and in situ conservation efforts, fostering synergistic collaboration with the national park system to contribute a Chinese solution to global biodiversity governance.

Key words: national botanical garden, ex situ conservation, biodiversity, global development of botanical gardens