…President says gardens will include all species of trees in Guyana

PRESIDENT David Granger, on Friday, announced that his government intends to upgrade the Botanical Gardens to a world class facility, which will include all species of trees grown here.

“We have to establish, in every region, a Regional Park not just a national park where it helps to preserve the beautiful flora and fauna… I am going to change the National Botanical Gardens, which Botanical Gardens must be the home to every specimen of tree in Guyana. It must obtain, it must contain, and maintain several specimens of all of the species of trees anywhere in Guyana,” President told a gathering at the National Tree Planting Exercise at Union Village, Corentyne, on Friday.

He said the Botanical Gardens must be a school house for children “so that we can learn about the wonders of Guyana’s trees.”

Back in 2016, Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, had announced a $50M upgrade of the Botanical Gardens. According to Minister Trotman then, the restoration will include the construction of a Black Caiman Walkway, rehabilitation of the fencing structure, improvements to drainage and irrigation structures and the rehabilitation of the plant nursery. The minister revealed that in order to alleviate flooding, government had to purchase an excavator at a cost of $19M.

“We will be rehabilitating offices and raising the walkway. There is going to be a Black Caiman walkway built. We will rehabilitate the eastern fence (facing Vlissengen Road), which is crumbling, because we discovered there is no foundation. We are investing $2.12M in the restoration of the plant nursery, and the koker will be rehabilitated,” Minister Trotman revealed. He noted that the government’s aim was to “restore the Botanical Gardens to its original intent…for botany.”

The Botanical Gardens, one of the popular recreational parks in Georgetown, is 142 years old this year. Former Curator at the Gardens, Mr. Fitz Ogle, had told the Guyana Chronicle that, at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society (RACS), held on April 03, 1877, members were convinced that great benefits were to be derived from establishment of the Botanical Gardens in the vicinity of the city, and appointed a committee comprising Messrs. J. Hampden King, Henry Watson, Henry Kirke, W.H. Campbell and R.W. Imlach to prepare a memorandum to the Governor and Court of Policy in this respect.

The petition was favourably received, and the Attorney General and Messrs. Robert Smith and William Russell were appointed to plan a scheme. The initial plans came to fruition when 276 acres of the backlands of Plantation Vlissengen were bought by the Government for $72,000, and 185 acres of that land was taken over for the Gardens.

In 1878, Mr. Prestoe, of the Trinidad Gardens, came to the then British Guiana to examine the site and, accordingly, prepare a plan. Mr. J.S Waby arrived in 1879 from Trinidad to begin establishment of the Gardens. A great amount of work had to be done before the land could be planted, as it was mostly swampland and pasture. Trenches had to be dug, roads constructed, propagation sheds erected, and the land raised by taking soil from lakes onto the land, while the front of the Gardens was tile-trained.

Among the first seedlings raised by J.S Waby were samaan trees, some of which were planted along the north side of the Gardens. Others now form the avenue on Vlissengen Road. In 1880, Mr. George Samuel Jenman arrived as Botanist and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens, and the project made great progress under the care and diligence of Messrs. Jenman and Waby. Jenman’s sterling contribution to development of the Botanical Gardens earned him much honour and respect internationally. Today, a clock installed on the Botanical Garden’s Office (formerly the Curator’s Office) bears his name as testimony to his remarkable achievement in shaping the Botanical Gardens of Guyana.

After Jenman’s death in 1902, changes were made to the layout of the Botanical Gardens. Drainage was improved; the famous arched “kissing bridge”, depicting the Victorian era, was constructed; and a bandstand was erected in memory of Mr. J. Brummel, the then Sheriff of Demerara. The Botanical Gardens were continuously beautified as flowering and ornamental shrubs took root, providing a landscape that was pleasing to the eye.