Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University

The Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University (BGISU) occupies 27 hectares within Irkutsk city, 70 kilometers west of Lake Baikal. The BGISU is the only botanical garden in Irkutsk region and in the Baikalian Siberia included in International Directory of Botanical Gardens. It is categorized by law as a strictly protected natural territory within the capital of Irkutsk Oblast. As a living museum and a non-profit organization the BGISU serves as an educational tool for students and general public.

Today the BGISU is involved in following ongoing projects:

• Public Education and Awareness(Training courses; Consulting; Guided excursions; Baikal eco-tours and expeditions; Gardening experience for orpaned children and children with special needs).
• Horticultural Innovations (Evaluation and Introduction of new species and varieties; Biotechnology of large-scale clonal propagation and multiplication of valuable plants; Nursery establishment; Plant Sales; International Seed exchange; etc).
• Nature Resource Management (Plant Gene Banking project for biodiversity conservation (ex situ); Restoration of damaged populations and landscapes; Computerized Data Base and Information System of plant genetic resources in Baikalian Siberia; Green Irkutsk project).

Since it is primarily an educational arm of the university, BGISU is not generally open to the public (though guided tours are available.) To help us increase our public role, we have established cooperative arrangements with the Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois, REAP International, Iowa, Betchart Expeditions of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK. We hope to make other, mutually beneficial contacts with institutions and individuals interested in helping to establish a first-rate Botanic Garden for the environmentally unique Lake Baikal area -- a 'World Heritage Site'.

Last updated:    May 2000

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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