THE HEAT IS ON
Kirstenbosch-South Africa exhibit for 2008 Chelsea Flower Show addresses climate change

Visitors to the world’s premier gardening show, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show 2008 in London from 20 to 24 May, will be intrigued by this year’s South African exhibit.

With climate change on everyone’s lips it is logical that the Kirstenbosch-South Africa exhibit, co-ordinated by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), would address this topic.

Designed by the award winning team of David Davidson and Raymond Hudson, and made possible through the support of First National Bank, the exhibit takes a look at some of the global warming issues that have in recent years come strongly to the forefront in environmental, economic and political debates worldwide.

Titled “The Heat is on”, the exhibit illustrates some of the early warning signs from nature indicating that the impacts of climate change on the South African flora are already upon us.

“First National Bank is delighted to be supporting this proudly South African exhibit for the 6th year, says Brett Erasmus, Head of Marketing, Niche Segments at FNB.” This exhibit has proved to be an outstanding ambassador for our country, not only showing off our floral heritage to the rest of the world and therby drawing tourists to our shores but also educating gardeners at the same time. We have no doubt that this exhibit will again be one of the most popular at the Chelsea Flower Show not to mention drawing South African’s in their droves when it begins it’s home tour in July at Garden World in Gauteng. It will also be re-created in Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.”

Within a naturalistic landscape, the exhibit contrasts two floristic scenarios: on the one side a scene rich in diverse and unusual plant species featuring the fynbos community of proteas, ericas, restios and associated indigenous plants – on the other a much hotter and drier scene where water resources are depleted and the visible indicators of climate change impacts are graphically portrayed.

The Quiver tree, Aloe dichotoma, is a good indicator of this. The earliest record of A. dichotoma, made by Simon van der Stel (Governor of the Cape at the time) on his northward journey to the Copper Mountains in 1685 reads " The branches of the trees are used by the Bushmen as quivers for their arrows. They hollow them out and cover the one end with a piece of leather and thus skilfully make from this tree, which they call Choje, a strong and serviceable quiver". Current research shows that these plant populations are declining in the hottest and driest regions of their natural habitat and expanding in cooler areas and are likely to disappear from many areas if warming continues.

Dr Tanya Abrahamse, Chief Executive of the South African National Botanical Institute is justly proud of this year’s exhibit."SANBI is enormously proud of the award-winning tradition of the South African exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show and we look forward to another successful participation in this world class event.

Our aim is to showcase South Africa's very wide biodiversity - the 3rd largest in the world - most particularly in the plant kingdom. Just one example of this wide variety is the unique Cape floral kingdom which alone is home to the highest density of different plants in the world, with more than 9,000 plant species - 70 percent of which are found nowhere else on earth. Our country as a whole provides awesome experiences for eco-tourists, and visitors can see this wide variety of South African plant life conserved and displayed in our nine regional National Botanical Gardens country-wide, of which Kirstenbosch is our icon. "

Apart from being custodians of the National Botanical Gardens system, SANBI also leads and carries out a range of research, planning, mapping and management model development programmes for biodiversity - both flora and fauna, and at species and ecosystem levels, including monitoring and communicating on the impact of climate change on biodiversity. In addition SANBI is mandated to provide information and knowledge, monitor and report on the state of biodiversity of South Africa.

SANBI's role as the national leader on Climate Change and bio-adaptations is a very important one - it is forecasted that climate change could have a serious impact on the biodiversity in this southern tip of Africa into the future. Our theme for the Chelsea Flower show this year reflects SANBI's broader role. We all need to understand what climate change means, its impacts on our biodiversity and environment, and the types of adaptive strategies needed to counteract its most negative effects. In the fun bag we will be handing out at the show, visitors will be able to get comfortable with some of the scientific terms explained in the Climate Change glossary.

As the new CEO of SANBI, I would like to assure our partners that we intend to continue participating in the Chelsea Flower Show into the future. We see our participation in the Show as ambassadors, giving a glimpse and showcasing our unique African biodiversity and heritage, inviting the world to visit and experience our country's splendid gifts from nature"

Other signals from nature of significant climatic changes are also featured in the exhibit. The focus of climate change research looks primarily at changes attributable to human actions. Current levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, for example, are unprecedented and are changing the world’s climate. The exhibit illustrates the role of some species in the banking of carbon as a means of mitigating carbon dioxide emissions and also highlights changing dynamics of natural fire regimes in the Cape Floral Kingdom.

Designers David & Ray said “The integration of design elements into the floral exhibit that depict some of the climate change lessons learned thus far from nature adds a challenging and exciting new dimension to the display. South Africa has participated at Chelsea for 32 years and this year’s exhibit is poignantly updated to keep abreast of current events in our floral kingdom."

Visitors to the exhibit will find a committed team who are passionate about this country and its plant resources. For Terence Mabela, Nursery Manager at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical garden this is a dream come true. Sarah Struys, Events Manager at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden has overseen the co-ordination of the exhibit and together with Monique McQuillan, horticulturist from Kirstenbosch will also be assisting in the build up when they all leave for London on 9 May.

The serious subject matter does not detract from the fact that the exhibit, while helping to create public awareness about climate change, is one of most popular and beautiful exhibits at Chelsea, and with the generous assistance of FNB, South Africans will have the opportunity to see it on home ground at Garden World in Gauteng (25 July – 24 August), in Cape Town (5 – 14 September), Pietermaritzburg (3 – 5 October) and Port Elizabeth (7 – 26 October).