There’s a brand new attraction on the Singapore Botanic Gardens with the opening of Singapore’s first ethnobotanical garden on June 30.
Ethnobotany is the study of the relationships between plants and folks.
The latest garden, which grows roughly 300 species of plants, shows how early settlers and indigenous people of Southeast Asia used plants of their culture and on a regular basis life.
The garden features a latest Ethnobotany Center, which houses an exhibition of over 100 artifacts.
The latest garden, situated inside the Bukit Timah Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, was inbuilt an area historically referred to as the “Economic Garden”.
In the late nineteenth century, the world was used for experimental crops after the British recognized Singapore’s potential for trade in plant goods.
Foreign crops akin to coffee, sugar cane and cocoa were brought into the gardens to be tested and tested within the local climate before being distributed to the local population.
FOUR THEMES: LIFE, SYMBOLISM, HEALING AND CRAFT
The Ethnobotanika Garden presents plants from Southeast Asia, utilized in 4 areas – for residential, symbolic, medicinal and craft purposes. This is the biggest such collection within the region.
In the craft zone, visitors can see how the region’s indigenous tribes used plants for creative and artistic expression.
The fibers of plants on this zone are used as constructing materials for residential structures and basket weaving.
The residential area displays plants utilized in on a regular basis life, including: akin to Ipoh tree and sweet potato.
According to Singapore Botanic Gardens director (development) Ng Yuin-Mae, the garden’s construction took a 12 months and a half.
“In today’s context, when we enter a forest, we see plants and trees, but we have no connection with them,” Ms Ng said. “A hundred or more years ago, people entered the forest, like a supermarket, they supplied their daily needs in the forest.”
“It’s something we want to bring back – the knowledge, educational and practical value of plants.”
ETHNOBOTANICS CENTER
At the Ethnobotany Center, we give attention to three topics: the economic importance of plants, find out how to use plant materials, and the protection of plants and indigenous knowledge.
In collaboration with the Asian School of the Environment at Nanyang Technological University, the middle will even manage an ethnobotany research program.
The opening of the Ethnobotanical Gardens coincides with the annual Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Festival.
Activities and programs might be spread throughout the gardens and can run from June 30 to July 8, 2018.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
