Global botanic gardens meeting kicks off in Seoul
Starting Monday, the 11th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens will be taking place at Seoul's Coex for five days.
Themed 'Education for Change: The Role of Botanic Gardens in Addressing Global Challenges,' over 1,600 participants comprising practitioners, curators, academics, researchers and teachers from some 51 countries have gathered for the event, which takes place every two to four years.
"With the accelerating dual crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, it is more critical than ever to collaborate and explore how education for sustainable development, led by botanic gardens, can address these pressing global issues," said Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the co-organizer hosting the event with the state-run Korea National Arboretum.
It is the second time the meeting is held in an Asian country after India, which hosted the assembly in 1999. The first meeting took place in the Netherlands in 1991.
BGCI, an England-based plant conservation charity run by some 900 botanic gardens from 115 countries, said this year's meeting is the largest attended by over 1,600 guests. The five-day meeting will host 64 sessions, 45 workshops and 140 lectures.
A statement will be released after the discussions, highlighting what the international community could improve to promote global cooperation on plant diversity, according to BGCI.
A music concert will take place on the last day of the assembly at the National Demilitarized Zone Native Botanic Garden in Yanggu, Gangwon Province.
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Korea Herald
08-06-2025
- Korea Herald
Global botanic gardens meeting kicks off in Seoul
Starting Monday, the 11th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens will be taking place at Seoul's Coex for five days. Themed 'Education for Change: The Role of Botanic Gardens in Addressing Global Challenges,' over 1,600 participants comprising practitioners, curators, academics, researchers and teachers from some 51 countries have gathered for the event, which takes place every two to four years. "With the accelerating dual crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, it is more critical than ever to collaborate and explore how education for sustainable development, led by botanic gardens, can address these pressing global issues," said Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the co-organizer hosting the event with the state-run Korea National Arboretum. It is the second time the meeting is held in an Asian country after India, which hosted the assembly in 1999. The first meeting took place in the Netherlands in 1991. BGCI, an England-based plant conservation charity run by some 900 botanic gardens from 115 countries, said this year's meeting is the largest attended by over 1,600 guests. The five-day meeting will host 64 sessions, 45 workshops and 140 lectures. A statement will be released after the discussions, highlighting what the international community could improve to promote global cooperation on plant diversity, according to BGCI. A music concert will take place on the last day of the assembly at the National Demilitarized Zone Native Botanic Garden in Yanggu, Gangwon Province.
Korea Herald
05-06-2025
- Korea Herald
22 crew members rescued from lifeboat in North Pacific after ship carrying 3,000 cars catches fire
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The crew of a cargo ship carrying 3,000 vehicles to Mexico, including 800 electric vehicles, abandoned ship after they could not control a fire aboard the vessel in waters off Alaska's Aleutian island chain. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship's stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles Tuesday, according to US Coast Guard photos and a Wednesday statement from the ship's management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime. There were no reported injuries among the 22 crew members of the Morning Midas. Crew members abandoned ship, were evacuated onto a lifeboat and rescued by the crew of a nearby merchant vessel called the Cosco Hellas in the North Pacific, 490 kilometers southwest of Adak Island. Adak is about 1,930 km west of Anchorage, the state's largest city. The crew initiated emergency firefighting procedures with the ship's onboard fire suppression system. But they were unable bring the flames under control. 'The relevant authorities have been notified, and we are working closely with emergency responders with a tug being deployed to support salvage and firefighting operations,' Zodiac Maritime said in a statement. 'Our priorities are to ensure the continued safety of the crew and protect the marine environment.' The US Coast Guard said it sent aircrews to Adak and a ship to the area. The status of the fire onboard the ship was unknown as of Wednesday afternoon, but smoke was still emanating from it, according to the Coast Guard. Rear Admiral Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard's Seventeenth District, said in a statement that as the search and rescue part of the response concluded, the Coast Guard was working with Zodiac Maritime to determine how to recover the ship and what will be done with it. 'We are grateful for the selfless actions of the three nearby vessels who assisted in the response and the crew of motor vessel Cosco Hellas, who helped save 22 lives,' Dean said. The 183-meter Morning Midas, a car and truck carrier, was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The cars left Yantai, China, on May 26, according to the industry site . They were being shipped to Lazaro Cardenas, a major Pacific port in Mexico. Earlier this month, a Dutch safety board called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire on a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore. That fire killed one person, injured others and burned out of control for a week, and the ship was eventually towed to a port in the northern Netherlands for salvage. The accident increased the focus on safety issues on the open sea and on containers that fall off the massive freighters , which have increased in size dramatically in recent decades. More than 80% of international trade by volume now arrives by sea, and the largest container vessels are longer than three football fields.
Korea Herald
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- Korea Herald
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