Botanical Society of South Africa turns 110!

The Botanical Society of South Africa turns a whopping 110 years old this year! And what a century it has been!

BotSoc, as the organisation is better known, is a conservation civil society organisation that conserves South Africa’s indigenous plants through programmes geared towards improving knowledge, cultivation and sustainable use, protection and enjoyment of our natural ecosystems.

Founded on June 10, 1913, BotSoc is a member-driven organisation that offers citizen scientists, amateur nature enthusiasts, the general public, and environmental experts the opportunity to join hands and be a part of the solutions to biodiversity challenges across the country.

The BotSoc and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden were founded in the same year, 1913. The then government granted the land on which the garden now stands provided that an organisation is formed from civil society to support its development, thus BotSoc is born.

From 1913 to 1920, during the height of World War I, BotSoc volunteers collected firewood, soil and acorns to sell in order to support Kirstenbosch’s development. Their efforts raised 31% of the total revenue.

William Duncan Baxter, first chairman of the BotSoc Council, noted in 1914 that “the greater part of the permanent work already done at Kirstenbosch stands to the credit of the Botanical Society; if that work is continued without interruption there is no doubt that Kirstenbosch will in time become one of the noted Botanic Gardens of the world.”

A year later, the Journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa was founded, featuring a range of articles on South Africa’s flora and on activities at Kirstenbosch, as well as the society’s annual reports.

Pioneering conservation, which was still very much in its infancy in South Africa at the time, BotSoc took flora conservation over from the Wildflower Conservation Society in 1939, playing a significant part in promulgating and enforcing laws against unsustainable harvesting of wildflowers.

For the first few decades of BotSoc’s existence, it was administered from private homes and offices, it was only in 1949 that the Society moved into new, purpose-built offices at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden which still serves members today.

In the 1950s, University of Cape Town botany lecturer and Botanical Society Council member Edith Stephens, with the assistance of other members, purchased the Isoetes Vlei on the Cape Flats, near the present Michell’s Plain.

This was donated to Kirstenbosch, preventing loss of a valuable remnant of Cape Flats habitat. It later became the Edith Stephens Wetland Park.

BotSoc continues to contribute to South Africa’s biodiversity and conservation through partnerships with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the internationally acclaimed citizen-science programme Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW).

CREW involves volunteers in monitoring and conserving South Africa’s threatened plants and contributes very valuable data to land management strategies.

From its initial roots in the founding of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, BotSoc has continued to branch out across South Africa as new national botanical gardens are established and as public interest in plants grows.

“Today we have active branches nationwide, all run by dedicated volunteer committees. Each branch has its own unique local character, history and range of conservation, environmental education and fundraising activities,” the Society said on its website.

“BotSoc branches are the lifeblood of our organisation. The spirit of volunteering remains at our heart and we encourage all members to get involved in plant conservation wherever possible.”

IOL