A Botanic Garden is a space maintained for the exhibition, conservation and scientific study of collected, growing plants. In this regard, the American University of Beirut (AUB), which incorporates a unique, natural environment, was declared a permanent Botanic Garden on Wednesday May the 4th, by President Fadlo R. Khuri.
The ceremonies outside West Hall took place at 6:30 pm and continued until 9:00 pm. The evening included an exhibition of local fauna, the illumination of historic trees around Campus, and a night-time guided tree tour.
“greenarea.info” attended the event, and interviewed a number of experts in this regard. Watch the video to see how everyone can enjoy this botanic garden.
The whole of AUB Campus will be officially designated as a Botanic Garden. This means labeling and monitoring numerous plants and trees, giving access to the public, sharing information with other Botanic Gardens, undertaking research and documentation.
AUB Campus, at the heart of urban Ras Beirut, incorporates within its walls a unique natural environment. With its diverse make-up of flora and fauna, quiet walkways and attractive views, the Campus has become a much-loved feature of the city of Beirut making an especially strong impression on generations of students.
In an interview with “greenarea.info”, Senior Research Scientist Antony G. Miller, Director of the Centre for Middle-eastern Plants, who is also part of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said that he has been invited by the committee responsible for setting botanic gardens, because he has been involved in setting up botanical gardens across the region.
He added: “We have projects in Kabul, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and we are getting expertise in Botanical gardens”.
According to Miller, “Beirut is the place he has seen so far for setting up a botanic garden”, adding that “the campus at AUB is not only beautiful, but it’s in the middle of a vibrant city”.
Maya Melhem from AUB told “greenarea.info”: “We are trying to transform the AUB campus into an educational campus where you learn the names of trees in Latin and in the common Arabic names”, adding that “this is a new experience at AUB, instead of having the trees non-labeled”.
Professor at AUB Salma Chrabieh, who is passionate about botanical gardens informed us that “We have a beautiful campus, but sometimes the plants around are just part of the background, as if they were furniture”. Chrabieh sees that “transforming the campus into a botanical garden takes a lifetime on its own”.
There are many ways you can take part in this remarkable effort. AUB Botanical Garden set up some activities for the upcoming months:
