Recently, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the world’s first botanical garden, the Botanical Garden of Padua, opening a dialogue between the two.

A signing ceremony of the MoU between the two botanical gardens is held on November 19. [Photo/Kankanews.com]

　　According to the MoU, the two parties will conduct in-depth exchanges and cooperation in such areas as data sharing, flora conservation, landscaping and public education and talent development. In the near future, Shanghai residents will be able to enjoy the unique and novel collection of plants from the world’s oldest botanical garden.

　　Established in 2011, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden is the youngest botanical garden in Shanghai. Young as it is, the garden is on a par with the Botanical Garden of Padua in terms of scientific research and development, as it applies new technology such as big data and the Internet. In addition, it is home to almost 140,000 herbarium samples and collects six million photos of the samples’ collection sites. Most importantly, it has set up an open Internet platform where anyone can access to edit and add information to its herbarium sample database.

　　The Botanical Garden of Padua, established in Italy in 1545 by the University of Padua, is the original of all botanical gardens. In 1997, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural good. So far, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden has been the first of its kind in China to sign a cooperative agreement with the Botanical Garden of Padua.