The Second International Symposium on Botanical Gardens and Landscapes (BGL2025) was held at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from September 22 to 26, 2025.
The event brought together over 130 experts and scholars from 12 countries, including the United States, Italy, Japan, Oman, and Thailand. The participants had in-depth discussions centering on botanical gardens and landscapes, plant diversity and conservation, and trends in plant technologies.
Organized by XTBG, the symposium received support and guidance from theInternational Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture and the Botanical Garden Working Group of CAS.
Prof. YANG Yongping, former director of XTBG, extended a warm welcome to the delegates. He said that the symposium aimed to establish an interdisciplinary and cross-regional international dialogue platform.It sought to promote cooperation among botanical gardens in areas such as resource sharing, data standardization, and open platform development.
Prof. Francesco Orsini, Chairman of the ISHS Section Landscape and Urban Horticulture, highlighted in his welcome address that botanical gardens serve not only as crucial bases for biodiversity conservation but also as knowledge hubs for horticultural science and landscape innovation.
The symposium featured six plenary reports and 38 thematic sessions. Renowned scholars from various countries shared their latest research findings. Their presentations covered such topics as plant genetic resource conservation, plant cultural heritage and sustainable use, smart horticulture technologies, and urban ecological landscapes.
Experts also held deep discussions on the functional positioning of botanical gardens in the context of global climate change and innovative germplasm resource technologies.
Founded in 1959, the ISHS is the world's leading independent organization of horticulturists acting as a globally recognized and sought-after platform for research, science-based information exchange and collaboration in support of sustainable innovation in horticulture.
Prof. Yang Yongping delivers an opening speech.
Keynote speakers: Chen Jin, Pei Shengji, Francesco Orsini, Long Chunlin, Irina Mitrofanova, and Hu Yonghong.
Participants at the symposium.
Field studies in XTBG.
Participants pose a group photo.
