Useful Plants Garden at Kirstenbosch
Introduction
The Useful Plants Garden Project, (UPGP) sees the amalgamation and upgrading of both the medicinal garden and the plant use trail at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden into one functional and socially relevant entity.
The UPG project is set to run for two years includes two phases:
- Phase 1, includes planning, landscaping, sourcing of plants and implementation of the garden.
- Phase 2 focuses on education, skill dissemination in schools and communities, with traditional healers and other relevant bodies.
The UPGP is a demonstration of a new South African garden. It combines centuries of plant use knowledge from all the peoples and cultures of South Africa while conserving the national treasure contained in the extraordinary diversity of indigenous plants. The design with a centrepiece of a traditional Xhosa/Mpondo hut, demonstrates the beauty of form combined with function.
The UPGP aims to give hope to all sectors of society by suggesting practical indigenous plant solutions for social and economic development. It is a practical demonstration of land and flora conservation and their sustainable uses. The UPDP suggests how to better manage natural resources and introduces new ways of working with the soil and plants while reviving and preserving an ancient, traditional, cultural inheritance.
To make this project a success,
working relationships will be forged with traditional healers, educational institutions, environmentalists, botanists and communities. Phase 2 focuses on involving these stakeholders to preserve and conserve our threatened flora by promoting useful garden development.
Useful Plants Garden
at Kirstenbosch
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Introduction
- Sections and plants
- Map
Sponsors
Rowland & Leta Hill Trust
Botanical Society
