BOTANICAL GARDENS, scientific research, educational and cultural institutions that use collections of exotic plants and local flora in their work. On their basis, the diversity of the Earth's flora, the biology of individual taxa, and the patterns of introducing plants into culture (introduction) are studied. The main practical tasks of botanical gardens are to preserve in culture the most valuable, rare and endangered representatives of the flora, to search for new useful plants, to develop agricultural technology for their cultivation and propagation, to study the possibilities of returning extinct species to their original habitats in nature. For this, in addition to living collections, botanical gardens organize seed banks [the largest are in the Missouri Botanical Garden (USA) and the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew (UK)], cryobanks for storing seeds and spores at ultra-low temperatures, laboratories for the propagation of especially valuable plants using biotechnological methods, etc. For the most part, botanical gardens are the basis for the educational work of pupils and students in botany, natural history, ecology, nature conservation, and garden design. In the expositions of botanical gardens, plants can be placed according to botanical-geographical, systematic or ecological principles, sometimes taking into account the history of the introduction of plants into culture. On the territory of the botanical garden, visitors get acquainted with the elements of gardening art and the basic techniques of landscaping urban areas and interiors. Botanical gardens include arboretums, rock gardens, ponds and pools, greenhouses, areas of wild flora, cultivated plants, experimental nurseries, and the like. Many botanical gardens have large herbariums. Gardens often have botanical museums, various permanent and temporary exhibitions, etc.

The prototype of botanical gardens were the gardens of medicinal plants at monasteries (in Western Europe from the 4th century). The first university botanical gardens, which arose in Italy and Germany in the mid-16th century, also served mainly to introduce medicinal plants. During the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the collections of botanical gardens began to be replenished with exotic plants new to science. This process accelerated with the advent (at the end of the 16th century) of the first greenhouses in which tropical plants from the colonial possessions of Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany were grown. At the same time, the first private botanical gardens arose, for example Hortekamp in the Netherlands, Bergian Garden in Sweden. Living collections of botanical gardens are often arranged according to the systems of outstanding botanists - C. Linnaeus, A. Jussieux, D. Hooker, O. Decandolle, A. Engler, etc.

In Russia, the first botanical gardens can be considered the so-called Apothecary Gardens, founded by Peter I in Moscow (1706), St. Petersburg (1714), Lubny (1721) and other cities. University botanical gardens appeared at the beginning of the 19th century (at Moscow University on the basis of the Apothecary Garden, 1805). One of the first large private botanical gardens was founded by P. A. Demidov in 1756 in Moscow, on the Sparrow Hills. It collected over 4 thousand species of plants. The Demidov family also owned a botanical garden in Solikamsk (Perm region). Another famous and no less large botanical garden, created in 1798 in Gorenki near Moscow by Count A.K. Razumovsky, was an important botanical scientific center with world renown until 1825.

The first botanical garden of the Academy of Sciences was created in St. Petersburg in 1735 (a detailed catalog of its plants was compiled in 1736) and did not last long. After 1917, the number of botanical gardens in Russia increased sharply (by 1980 - 132). In 1952, at the All-Union Meeting of Botanical Gardens, they were united into a single network, the activities of which were coordinated by the Council of Botanical Gardens of the USSR (now the Council of Botanical Gardens of the Russian Federation). Their network includes 90 (as of 2004) gardens and similar botanical institutions subordinate to the Russian Academy of Sciences, universities and other departments of the Russian Federation. The most famous of them: the Main Botanical Garden named after N.V. Tsitsin RAS (Moscow), the botanical garden of the Botanical Institute named after V.L. Komarov (St. Petersburg), the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute (Kirovsk, Murmansk region), Central Siberian Botanical Garden (Novosibirsk), etc.

Botanical gardens around the globe (more than 1000 in total) are united by the International Association of Botanical Gardens (IABG), founded in 1960, which has European and Asian branches. The largest foreign botanical gardens, whose living collections number 25-30 thousand species, are considered to be: Kew Botanical Gardens, New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis (USA), Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden (Germany). The northernmost is the Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden, the southernmost are the botanical gardens in Hobart (Tasmania) and Christchurch (New Zealand), the highest botanical garden (altitude 2100-2500 m) is in Khorog (Tajikistan).

Living collections of botanical gardens, seed banks and herbariums are replenished by expeditions and seed exchanges between botanical gardens. Based on herbaria and collections, various reference books are published (the very first of the major projects is the “Q Index” - a list of ever described species of vascular plants around the globe). Particular attention in botanical gardens is paid to the development of information retrieval systems that make it possible to summarize data on the diversity of plants in the collections of different botanical gardens and simplify the exchange of information. Such systems, in particular, have been created at the Missouri Botanical Garden, Kew Botanical Garden, and the Botanical Garden of Petrozavodsk University.

Lit.: Tsitsin N.V. Botanical Gardens of the USSR. M., 1974; Astrov A.V. Botanical gardens of Central Europe. M., 1976; Golovkin B.N. History of plant introductions in botanical gardens. M., 1981.

The origin of botanical gardens in the modern sense dates back to the era of feudalism. In the 5th century At numerous monasteries in medieval Europe, so-called “apothecary” gardens or “vegetable gardens” appeared. The first botanical gardens were small. The plant collections in them were represented by medicinal, poisonous, spicy plants, used in medieval medicine, and some types of ornamental plants placed in beds (vegetable gardens).

Apothecary gardens, which in the earliest period of their existence were established at monasteries, and later at hospitals, were the forerunners of the display of useful plants in modern botanical gardens. Pharmaceutical gardens were small in size, usually not exceeding several hundred square meters.

At first, one of the oldest in our country Botanical Garden of the Botanical Institute was also an apothecary garden. V.L. Komarov, founded in 1714 by decree of Peter I on one of the Neva islands. This apothecary garden, like all similar gardens of that time, had a very small area. So, M.I. Pylyaev, a famous historian of old St. Petersburg, reports that it was only 300 fathoms long and 200 fathoms wide.

Since the 14th century. Monastery apothecary gardens are gradually turning into medical gardens, in the activities of which fundamentally new features can already be noted. Unlike medieval monastery gardens, medical gardens now have not only a narrow practical significance. They laid the foundation for work on the primary introduction of plants, collected local and alien plants, described them and brought them into a certain system (although still cumbersome before Linnaeus). The formation of botanical gardens as scientific institutions dates back to the Renaissance. This was greatly facilitated by the widespread dissemination of scientific knowledge and, in particular, natural science at that time. The first scientific botanical gardens appeared in Italy at the very beginning of the 14th century. (garden in Salerno -1309), where, compared with other European countries, by that time the most favorable socio-historical preconditions had developed for the formation of new socio-economic relations, for the creation and further flourishing of a new humanistic culture and, in particular, the brilliant flourishing of science and art. True, until the first half of the 18th century. plant displays in most medical botanical gardens remained few in number, differing little from medieval monastery gardens. They were located in the garden area in the form of separate groups of medicinal and some other plants, used mainly in medicine, being, in the witty expression of A.N. Krasnov, as it were, a “living pharmacopoeia”.

Starting from the 16th century, with the development of university life, the number of botanical gardens in Italy increased significantly: gardens appeared one after another in Padua (1545), Pisa (1547), Bologna (1567), etc. Somewhat later, in the 17th century, botanical gardens were created in other European countries: at Paris (1635) and Uppsala (Sweden) universities (1655), in Berlin (1646), Edinburgh (England) - the Royal botanical garden (1670), etc.

The rapid accumulation of plant material in botanical gardens required its scientific generalization and systematization. Linnaeus, the founder of plant taxonomy, came out with his “Plant System” in 1753 and developed the first harmonious artificial system for classifying plants. Linnaeus divided plants into 24 classes, basing each of them on arbitrary characteristics, and thereby created a new method for systematizing the plant world. Linnaeus's plant system gave rise to numerous studies and aroused great interest in the description of plants. A few years after the publication of Linnaeus’ system, the number of studied and described plants reached 100 thousand. Since then, Linnaeus’ taxonomist and botanist have become almost identical concepts. The botanical garden of that time was like a living herbarium for taxonomy. Aesthetics took a back seat here. Botanical gardens, as a kind of botanical laboratories at universities, demonstrating various plant systems, became widespread in the 17th-18th centuries. Gradually, in the process of historical development of botanical gardens, they acquired a new function - educational and pedagogical.

The history of botanical gardens in Russia is closely connected with the origin and development of Russian botanical science. Already by the beginning of the 17th century. in our country there was a lot of information regarding the practical use of various plants both in agriculture and in medicine. Methods of using medicinal plants and descriptions of their medicinal properties were usually described in various “herbal books”, which were especially widespread in the second half of the 17th century. During the first half of the 18th century. In connection with the development of the medical profession and the increasing need for the production of medicines, the number of pharmaceutical gardens in Russia is rapidly increasing. Along with the first botanical garden in our country opened in 1706 at Moscow University, other gardens were organized: in Lubny in 1709, in St. Petersburg (now the garden of the Botanical Institute named after V.L. Komarov) in 1714. In the decree Peter I on the establishment of the St. Petersburg apothecary garden says that the latter was created “for the multiplication of apothecary herbs and the collection of special herbs, which are the most necessary in medicine, and also for teaching doctors and pharmacists in botany.” Among the collections of plants in this apothecary garden we find: chamomile, sage, mint, mustard, thyme, juniper, peonies, lavender, various bulbous plants, roses, etc. The foundation of the botanical garden of the Academy of Sciences on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg dates back to the same time, in the first third of the 18th century. Only very fragmentary information has been preserved about this garden, found in the archive materials. From the minutes of the Academy's office it is clear that the botanical garden was established in 1735. To establish the garden, on the recommendation of its founder, the Dutch botanist Amman, a small plot of land was rented on the 2nd line of Vasilyevsky Island.

The widespread use of medicinal and other useful plants in medicine and in other areas of practical activity was the most important prerequisite for the emergence of a new function in the botanical garden - the search for useful plants. At the beginning of the 18th century. the study and development of diverse natural resources on the vast territory of Russia was one of the main state tasks. In this regard, Russian botanists began large-scale studies of the plant wealth of Russia. The scientific center coordinating the work of numerous complex expeditions was the Academy of Sciences, organized in 1725. S.P. also took part in the first geographical expedition of the Academy of Sciences to Kamchatka - the famous Bering expedition. Krasheninnikov, author of the remarkable “Description of the Land of Kamchatka” (1755), is the earliest representative of major Russian naturalists. In the preface to the first edition of “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” Academician G.F. Miller, one of the scientific leaders of Bering’s expedition to Kamchatka, wrote: “There should be no doubt that those appointed to manage state affairs really need to have an accurate record of the lands.” And further he notes that it is necessary to know “what kind of herbs, bushes, trees are found and which of them is suitable for medicine, or paint, or for any other economic use.” This shows how much importance, from the point of view of meeting economic needs, was already attached to the botanical study of our country at that time. The famous academic expeditions of 1768-1774 were of particular importance in the development of botanical knowledge and the organization of the first botanical gardens in Russia. on the study of Russian nature, in which P.S. participated. Pallas, I.A. Falk, I.I. Lepekhin and other collectors of the most valuable collections of living plants and herbariums.

From the second half of the 18th century. in Russia, along with state ones, numerous private botanical gardens began to be created. Collecting rare exotic plants became a fashion at that time, to which every more or less wealthy person paid tribute. From this passion for collecting plants arose many botanical gardens of that time, in particular the famous gardens of P. Demidov in Moscow, A. Razumovsky in Gorenki near Moscow, etc. Some of them collected large, even in our time, collections of introduced plants . Thus, in the botanical garden of A. Razumovsky in Gorenki, up to 12 thousand species and varieties of Russian flora were presented. The botanical garden of the industrialist P. Demidov was established in 1756 and included up to 5 thousand species and varieties of plants in its collections. About this botanical garden academician P.S. Pallas, who visited it, wrote that it “now has no parallel in all of Russia, but it can also be compared with many glorious botanical gardens in other countries both in terms of rarity and the variety of plants it contains.” Judging by the description and the old drawing that has come down to us depicting the plan of P. Demidov’s botanical garden, the layout of this garden was quite simple. However, it was in no way different from other famous botanical gardens of that time. Rectangular terraced areas of the garden were built on the slope of the Sparrow Hills facing the Moscow River, and four ledges about 200 m long and of varying widths descended to the river. Greenhouses and garden beds were located symmetrically on both sides of the path leading from the magnificent three-story house to the river. Of the 9 greenhouses, 8 were made of stone. Each of the greenhouses was about 80 m long. There were greenhouses for grapes, palm trees, fruit and perennials, and greenhouses for growing pineapples. In the terraced areas of the garden near the greenhouses, various plants were located in the beds, “growing in the free air.” Fruit trees were planted along each of the terraces in one or two rows. These terraced areas in the upper part were directly adjacent to the courtyard structures of the estate, separated from the latter by an openwork cast-iron lattice. The Demidov Botanical Garden did not exist for long; already at the end of the 80s of the XVIII century. it fell into complete decline and by this time had practically ceased its activities. Another, no less famous botanical garden of the 18th century. - Gorensky, who was led by the most prominent botanist F.B. Fischer, was part of a large park located near the main building of a vast manorial estate, built by the architect Menelas, who built a lot for the Razumovskys. In front of the house, on one side, there was a square surrounded by a moat with ponds and groves for a menagerie, in front of its garden facade there were flower beds with numerous sculptures, and in the middle of the lawn-covered area there was a marble vase. The park, through which the Gorenka River flowed, forming ponds, was laid out in the then fashionable landscape style and occupied a large area of ​​up to 600 hectares. Partially preserved until the end of the last century, this vast park area had a large number of terraced ponds, bridges, gazebos, a grotto with a central hall and labyrinthine corridors. The park abounded in silver poplars, Siberian cedars, Weymouth pines, and American spruces. Gorensky Garden was one of the largest botanical institutions of its time. In a description of this garden, his contemporary notes that “the riches of nature, collected in greenhouses and conservatories, delight you: you can’t help but be amazed how a private person could unite in a few years so many treasures of nature from all over the world.” After the death of A.K. Razumovsky in 1822. The Gorensky Botanical Garden fell into decay, and in 1826-1828. The richest collections of this famous botanical garden turned out to be scattered. The greenhouses were partially dismantled. A significant part of the Gorensky herbarium was purchased by the Academy of Sciences on the recommendation of the former director of this garden F.B. Fischer and is currently in the herbarium of the Botanical Institute. V.L. Komarova RAS.

By the 18th century refers to the founding of other privately owned botanical gardens in Russia - the garden in Solikamsk, founded by P. Demidov, and known to us from the description of academician I.I. Lepekhin, a garden in the Penza province, owned by S.T. Aksakov, where the prominent Russian botanist E.L. worked. Regel, later - director of the garden in St. Petersburg. Also known are the greenhouses and gardens of the estates near Moscow, which belonged to D. Golitsyn in 1737, the Nikolsky garden of P. Trubetskoy near Moscow, etc.

At the end of the 18th century. The first botanical parks appeared in Russia - arboretums, which were laid out entirely in landscape style in accordance with the artistic tastes of the time. Such dendrological parks, which occupy an intermediate position between the botanical garden itself and an ordinary park, include the famous parks Trostyanetsky in the Chernigov region and Sofievsky near Uman in Ukraine, which have survived to this day.

In the first half of the 19th century. newly built botanical gardens both in Russia and abroad were created mainly as educational gardens at universities. Subsequently, gradually, as botanical knowledge increases, the range of activities of botanical gardens expands more and more.

The development of colonial expansion of the largest powers at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. awakened interest in the geography of colonial countries. This gave impetus to the development of botanical geography. This has led many botanical gardens to combine a systematic principle of displaying vegetation with a geographical one. If the “systems” showed plant species that interested the botanist only from a morphological point of view, characteristic representatives of various families and genera, now in botanical gardens plants are arranged according to conditions close to natural ones. They are grouped in the form of communities of meadow and steppe plants, and forest groups if they are taken from the forest. This made it easier to study them in conditions close to natural ones. At the same time, the biochemical and physiological properties of plants are beginning to be studied in botanical gardens. Certain promising crops were subjected to a comprehensive and in-depth study with the identification of their economic data and biological properties. Botanists are already faced with the tasks of selection, adaptation, zoning, and the study of agricultural technology.

In connection with the expansion of the tasks of activity and the change in the methods of exhibiting plants, the overall size of botanical gardens is also sharply increasing. Their areas already reach many tens and even hundreds of hectares. Such are the botanical gardens in Kew, Berlin-Dahlem, New York, and among the former Russian gardens - Nikitsky.

The rapid development of cities at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the large scale of industrial construction, the emergence in connection with this of the most complex urban planning problems - the redevelopment and landscaping of cities, the creation of a protective forest park belt around large settlements, etc. - all this has confronted botanical gardens around the world with the task of determining the most rational assortment of plants and developing effective methods for landscaping cities and building parks. Modern botanical gardens are actively involved in solving these problems; here ornamental plants are selected and studied, gardens begin to act as promoters of certain techniques and methods of landscaping. More and more exhibition areas are appearing in botanical gardens - gardens of individual crops, continuous flowering, exemplary corners of parks. At the same time, botanical gardens are increasingly promoting botanical knowledge and the study of living nature.

At the end of the 18th century, as noted above, elements of a landscape style appeared in the layout of botanical gardens under the influence of the development of the free landscape direction, which was widely established in park-building art. Its artistic and aesthetic basis was the task of creating an idealized landscape. In connection with the new artistic tasks facing the art of park construction, the problems of studying the decorative properties of plants and their harmonious combination began to acquire more and more decisive importance. In botanical gardens, scientific gardeners analyze the artistic features and dendrological properties of various species, methods of their design, possible groupings of plantings in parks and other important conditions for creating a landscape.

Over time, where possible, the gardens began to expand. The expansion of the boundaries of botanical gardens usually occurred by annexing free, undeveloped plots of land or combining old, relatively small botanical garden plots with a more extensive park part of a manorial estate or royal estate, on which, for the most part, the first private botanical gardens arose. This can be seen especially clearly in the development of the famous botanical garden at Kew, near London.

So gradually, in the process of their historical development, botanical gardens from apothecary gardens of the Middle Ages have turned into a complex organism in our time. It should be noted that changes in botanical gardens occurred primarily under the influence of the general development of botanical science and changing requirements for the scientific and botanical content of the work of a botanical garden. On the other hand, the changes were organically connected with the general development of landscape gardening art.

A modern botanical garden is a complex organism with an area of ​​up to many tens and even hundreds of hectares, with the recreation in certain areas of the garden of entire geographical landscapes and botanical-historical exhibitions (rock gardens, Japanese, Italian gardens, etc.), which cannot do without landscape an architect who achieves artistic unity of all the diversity of elements that make up the botanical garden.

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Opening your own botanical garden is not an easy undertaking, and one cannot say that this is a super-profitable business; moreover, very rarely a botanical garden can serve as a source of profit. However, its discovery may be due to the peculiarities of conducting any activity (scientific, research, educational) or simply be the personal desire of the entrepreneur to preserve rare specimens of flora. In general, this is a rather expensive undertaking, but at the same time it allows you to do what you love, and if you open a botanical garden on the basis of an existing enterprise, you can save a lot and simplify your task.

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The first step is to decide whether the botanical garden will be commercial or non-profit. If a decision has been made to open a commercial botanical garden, then the easiest way is to register a limited liability company, because then a simplified taxation system will be available, which involves transferring no more than 6% of income or 15% of operating profit to the state. If the garden is non-profit, then the form is chosen depending on how many founders there will be, on the basis of which enterprise the garden will operate (if this is assumed, of course), in what format it will be created. The registration process, of course, is different, but there are no special restrictions, that is, a botanical garden can be opened like any simple enterprise. In general, there should be no difficulties with registration, especially if you plan to open a garden on private territory, so bureaucratic issues are resolved in a couple of months at most. Although, of course, there may be difficulties with obtaining land, and here, too, it is likely that you will have to resolve issues with the administration or other governing bodies. By the way, it makes sense to contact an organization or association (including an international one) that unites all botanical gardens and puts them on a common list.

So, the most important stage in organizing a business is finding a site. A botanical garden is a place where collections of living plants are grown for the purpose of study and display, and to preserve the biological diversity of species. Often a botanical garden includes plants from other climatic zones, so the size of the plot is most often determined not by the entrepreneur’s capabilities, but by necessity - that is, it is first determined how much space is needed to create a full-fledged collection of plants that will grow together. But in any case, the size of the plot may vary, although, of course, usually a botanical garden occupies a considerable area. It could be several acres of land - then we can talk more about a greenhouse or just a small garden, but maybe several hectares, then it will be almost an artificial forest. Interestingly, a botanical garden does not have to be located outside the city; moreover, due to the fact that it has an educational and scientific purpose, it is better to open it just within the city limits. But purchasing such a large territory is a considerable expense, especially in any relatively large city. Therefore, it is better to look for alternative options.

The botanical garden may be of interest to any organization, due to which it is possible to agree on cooperation. The most promising options are educational institutions, universities and institutes, preferably those that train specialists and engage in scientific activities related to biology and/or ecology. Although many liberal arts institutes and large universities are also suitable. Often, budgetary educational institutions are given land for use, and it is possible to agree that the entrepreneur will improve the territory and generally lay out a garden, and the university has the right to use it at a reduced rate or completely free of charge. Local authorities can also allocate territory, if you know who to turn to; they could very likely allocate some kind of vacant lot for such a project; after all, this is a beautification of the city and a socially useful undertaking. The state can issue land for long-term lease, and in the best case scenario, you won’t have to pay for it. Finally, the worst option is to rent land from private individuals. Simply because it will be very expensive per month, it makes sense to plant a garden by renting land only outside the city and not in a populated area at all, where it will be rented out for a small price (several thousand) per year. Buying it is also very expensive, so almost always such undertakings involve working on municipal land. In fact, finding land is not as difficult as it seems at first glance; many cities today are expanding, and you can take land on the outskirts - in a few years the botanical garden will be located within the city. Many institutions and organizations may be interested in creating a botanical garden; this is also beneficial for the administration (what an event - the mayor’s office helped open a botanical garden, what a good advantage in the election campaign), that is, having found interested people, you can count on serious support. Although, maybe the entrepreneur already owns land and is ready to plant a garden on it. There is no point in describing this option.

When the land is found, you can begin planning. The entrepreneur himself, if he is simply acting as an interested party, must find a lot of people at the design stage, so that later there will be no problems with the botanical garden, after which he will have to hire additional staff. However, it is better that the organizer himself understands at least some area that is applicable to the creation of a botanical garden. First you need to decide which plants will be grown in the botanical garden. Moreover, you need to create not just plants growing nearby, but rather create an ecosystem, which will require the help of an experienced botanist. Or better yet, a whole group. You can contact a specialized office that specializes in planting trees and plants; there are several such offices in any large city, so this should not be a problem. Although, if an entrepreneur plans to plant rare plants that do not grow naturally in Russia, then he will have to contact foreign companies, and then also pay for the transportation of rare plants. The price of such services can vary greatly depending on the plant itself, as well as where it will have to be delivered from. As for representatives of the Russian flora, there are approximate prices that an entrepreneur can count on, although, of course, they can also vary greatly in different regions.

The cost of trees depends on height and age, young plants can be purchased at a price of about 4-5 thousand rubles, the price of trees atypical for the region starts at 10 thousand rubles, rarer specimens or trees of very good quality, as well as trees that are simply already high, cost several times more expensive. Additionally, funds are charged for planting and, possibly, for a guarantee - according to it, the tree will live for a specified period, and in the event of its death, the company undertakes to compensate for the damage, usually offering a new tree for free. If we take the average price for a tree to be 20 thousand (with transportation, guarantee and planting), then for 100 trees we will have to allocate 2 million rubles. Additionally, you will have to pay for the delivery and planting of small plants - shrubs, herbaceous plants, and so on. Everything here costs much less, but it’s worth counting on at least another 200-300 thousand. Again, all these calculations are very approximate, because there are a huge number of plant species, some work can be done by the entrepreneur himself and his team, there is a possibility that some of the plants will be transferred to different reserves or other organizations, so the exact amount that needs to be allocated for plants, can be found out only after a detailed calculation, when the project is ready. And yes, an entrepreneur should devote time and energy to finding plants not from companies, but from other sources. Moreover, even specialized companies do not always have the required plant in stock, but it can grow in the nearest forest area. Then the team needs to go there to get a sample, and then plant it in the garden.

Additionally, it would be a good idea to carry out landscaping work in the botanical garden, that is, you should not simply plant plants in an open area. You can also order landscape design services - so that the arrangement of plants and other elements is verified not only from a biological, but also from an aesthetic point of view. You can order all this, as a rule, in one office, and the prices here are approximately the same in different companies. By the way, an office that deals with landscapes will also be able to carry out landscaping of the area - of course, we are not talking about any unique or rare plants here, but you can simply make the garden look really beautiful thanks to this service. The cost of the project with all the necessary systems (landscaping, soil testing, engineering systems, drainage, storm drains, construction work, lighting systems, etc.) will cost around 20 thousand rubles per acre of land. The cost of landscaping using the simplest and cheapest systems is an additional 50-70 thousand for the same plot, but these are also very average figures, because an entrepreneur can choose from a huge list of services, and he does not always need to order absolutely everything. Such a company will carry out construction work, improve the site, that is, upon completion, the entrepreneur will receive an almost finished botanical garden, only it means that unique plants were planted before and the work associated with them will also be paid for separately. However, this may not be enough; usually several more greenhouses open on the territory of the botanical garden.

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To open at least one greenhouse, but which is equipped with everything necessary, it will take about one million rubles - and this is for a greenhouse that occupies 30-40 m 2 in size. Although it is from the commercial side of the issue that we can say that excursions in greenhouses usually bring the largest sums to entrepreneurs. However, the costs of their maintenance are many times higher. In addition, it may be necessary to erect additional buildings (including capital ones), enclose the garden with a fence - and this is also an additional expense, sometimes considerable - up to several millions, and here you should contact construction companies.

An important point is the staff of the botanical garden, it has already been mentioned that you will need to find a good botanist, but in addition to this you will need an ecologist, people who will form a team of specialists involved in collecting information, caring for plants, and also cataloging all the information collected. Yes, for paperwork you will also need 2-3 people, these are simple document specialists who deal with catalogs and lists, keep all the information in one place, and manage it. And, what is important, the botanical garden should be a source of useful information, however, it can be collected not only by the organization’s employees, but also by other scientific specialists, for example, from institutes and research centers. Students do a lot of work, and therefore it is important to primarily focus their work on educational institutions. Next, to clean the area and other similar work, you will have to hire a team of workers, depending on the size of the garden, this can be 5, 20, or even more people. But it’s still better to keep 2-3 people on staff, hiring the rest only as needed. For example, in the off-season, when you need to put the garden in order after winter or, conversely, prepare it for it. A botanist and an ecologist receive 30-40 thousand rubles each (it is assumed that these are people with an academic degree or at least just graduate students), their assistants - 20-30 thousand each, service personnel already work for 10-15 thousand (usually part-time), although the level of salaries, of course, varies from region to region. Additional specialists may also be required, for example, to operate special equipment, but this, as a rule, only applies to large gardens. It is also important to note that the botanical garden often attracts volunteers to maintain it; for people who are interested in the beauty of nature, this becomes a chance to enter the territory for free. Of course, there will be few such enthusiasts, and they will be difficult to control, you don’t need to rely on them, but they will still be able to provide some kind of support. To summarize, we can say that to maintain a very small garden, a staff of 10 people and the help of volunteers will be enough, but for a large garden you will have to hire a huge number of employees. In general, the calculation of the required workforce is carried out from the first day of organizing work, and if necessary, additional personnel are involved. In general, you can start with a relatively small garden, but still have some territory so that you can expand the garden later.

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Of course, a botanical garden that exists even in the NGO format needs to attract funds, and if we do not consider sponsorship and government support, then there are several sources of income. The simplest thing is entrance tickets; they usually imply an indefinite stay in the garden (that is, during the day when the ticket is sold), and their cost ranges from 300 rubles, sometimes more expensive if a unique collection is presented in the garden. However, it often makes sense to offer discounts to certain categories of the population - students, pensioners, children; if cooperation has been established with an educational institution, then its employees may also have benefits. A large botanical garden in a big city is usually never empty during the warm season; there are always people walking or doing science there, so we can talk about a relatively stable income during the season. In winter, of course, everything is much more complicated; as the weather gets colder, the flow of visitors decreases sharply. As already noted, entrance to greenhouses is usually more expensive, but a guide is also involved (usually one of the research assistants). The botanical garden can earn some money by growing unique plants, even selecting species, and then selling samples to scientific institutions; but to develop this direction, you will have to organize a whole team of scientists. Also, special educational films can be shot on the territory of the botanical garden, photographs can be taken, and all this can also be sold. Finally, the territory or part of the garden territory can be rented out for various purposes, only if it does not pose a threat to the plants; it can be for photo shoots or just cultural recreation in nature.

Reserved tracts

Reserved tracts– these are forest, steppe, swamp and other isolated integral landscapes that have important scientific, environmental and aesthetic significance, with the aim of preserving them in their natural form.

Functions of protected areas:

Preservation of valuable plant communities;

Conducting scientific and educational activities;

Conducting educational and environmental activities.

The requirements for the regime of protected areas are similar to the requirements for natural monuments.

As a rule, the smallest areas of the landscape are called protected areas. This could be a piece of virgin land, a sea coast, a small lake, bushes, etc. These territories are visited mainly by organized groups of tourists along permitted routes (paths).

In Ukraine, there are 746 protected areas of local importance, including 10 in Crimea, where they occupy 1.4% of the protected mountain and plain fund. Among the most famous protected areas in Ukraine are the Lesna granite tracts, Kucherov Yar and others. In Crimea, the most famous protected areas are: the Chatyrdaga mountain range, the Kizil-Koba (Red) tract and cave, the Tyrke tract (in the Burulcha valley and on the Tyrke plateau), the Karabi-Yayla tract and others.

The category of specially protected also includes botanical gardens and dendrological parks. They are environmental institutions whose tasks include creating special collections of plants for the purpose of diversity and enrichment of vegetation, as well as conducting scientific, educational, cultural and educational work. In this regard, any activity that is not in accordance with their purpose is prohibited on the territory of botanical gardens and dendrological parks.

Botanical Garden - These are protected areas created for the purpose of conservation, study, acclimatization, reproduction in special conditions and effective economic use of rare and typical species of local and world flora by creating, replenishing and preserving botanical collections, conducting scientific, educational and educational work.

According to Article 32 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Natural Reserve Fund of Ukraine”, within the boundaries of botanical gardens, in order to ensure the necessary regime of protection and effective use, the following zones can be allocated:

- exhibition - visiting it is permitted in accordance with the procedure established by the administration of the botanical garden;

- scientific– it includes collections of experimental plots. Only employees of the botanical garden have the right to visit in connection with the performance of official duties, as well as specialists from other institutions with the permission of the garden administration;

- reserved– visiting it is prohibited, except in cases when it is related to scientific observations;

- administrative and economic.

The importance of keeping records of botanical collections that have scientific, cultural, educational, educational and other state value is enshrined in Article 35 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Plant World”.

Functions of botanical gardens:

Biodiversity conservation;

Creation and preservation of the gene pool of plants, including rare and endangered species;

Study and development of approaches to the protection and rational use of plant resources.

The history of botanical gardens, as well as conservation in general, dates back to antiquity. Among many historical data, there is a mention of the Athenian garden of the Greek Theophrastus, who is often called the “father of botany.” (371-287 BC). Among the first botanical gardens are the gardens at universities in Leipzig (1542), Pisa (1543), Padua (1576), Leiden (1587). In Russia, private botanical gardens began to appear in the 8th century. Two gardens, organized by direct decree of Peter I, have survived to this day. The first is the current branch of the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University. And on the basis of the second, the Botanical Institute named after V.L. Komarov was subsequently created.

Currently, there are about 20 botanical gardens in Ukraine. For example, Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Yalta. In terms of its enormous contribution to botany and plant growing, its impact on fruit growing, viticulture, ornamental horticulture, the cultivation of industrial, essential oil, medicinal and aromatic crops, many gardens in the world cannot be compared. This garden has long become a favorite place for hundreds of thousands of visitors. The following areas are subject to inspection: Upper Park, Lower Park, Primorsky Park and Montedor Park. This suggests that, along with dendrological parks, the recreational and educational significance of botanical gardens is expanding everywhere. The high aesthetic appeal of these territories, as well as the richness and diversity of their collections, contribute to an increase in the number of recreationists. Unfortunately, since the majority of botanical gardens and dendrological parks are located in suburban areas, they are not isolated from the general anthropogenic impact. This problem is further complicated by the fact that many plant collections have increased sensitivity to factors of negative external influences (physical and chemical pollution). Often, the environmental risk for them is the development of nearby territories, which provokes flooding of landscapes. Among the pressing problems of botanical gardens and dendrological parks in our time is the preservation of territorial integrity. The areas occupied by these objects seem to be very attractive for the implementation of various economically profitable projects (sports grounds, cottages, parking lots, highway construction, etc.). This trouble has already affected some botanical gardens, and in particular, the Donetsk Botanical Garden itself.

A big problem of our time can also be considered insufficient funding for these territories, which leads to a reduction in the volume of scientific research and creates a threat of destruction of collections of plants and seeds.

1. WHAT IS A BOTANICAL GARDEN. DEFINITION AND FUNCTIONS

Botanic gardens are organizations that maintain documented collections of living plants and use them for scientific research, biodiversity conservation, display, and educational purposes (Jackson, 2001).

There are about 2,200 botanical gardens in the world in 153 countries (73 of them in Russia) united by the idea of ​​preserving and using plant resources to improve people’s well-being (Kuzevanov, Sizykh, 2006). The list of the most important activities of botanical gardens, outlined within the framework of the International Program of Botanic Gardens for Plant Conservation (Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, 2000), is extremely extensive and, along with scientific research, includes measures to organize the use of plant resources in various directions for sustainable development. Of course, none of the botanical gardens in the world is able to fully implement all of these types of activities. However, the list itself shows how unique the capabilities of botanical gardens are in the study and protection of biological diversity, the development of scientific foundations for the use of plant resources, and awareness-raising and educational activities.

Each BS, based on available resources, capabilities and social demands, determines its strategy and direction for the development of scientific and educational projects, as well as its social role in the region. It is important that the botanical garden is able to identify which target groups and segments of the population should be targeted with public programs so that they are in demand and have social resonance.

In countries with developed market economies, BS play the role of environmental institutions and educational centers for the public, i.e. for all segments of the population (International Botanic Gardens Conservation Programme, 2000). Traditionally, botanical gardens in the USSR were primarily either scientific institutions or a base for teaching university students and at the same time had limited access to the population. BS of Russia have rich collections of living plants from a particular region and the world, libraries, herbarium specimens and museum items from plants. However, when compared with the BS of developed countries with market economies, the resources of Russian gardens are still little accessible to the general public. This is due to the insufficient development of special programs for education and enlightenment of the population, as well as underdeveloped infrastructure. When interacting with the local population, a botanical garden can also perform some non-traditional functions, for example, parental, in the sense of teaching and raising orphans (Sizykh, Kuzevanov, 2001) and adolescents with deviant behavior (Sizykh, Kuzevanov, 2004).

To the contents of the book: GARDEN THERAPY: using botanical garden resources for social adaptation and rehabilitation