From Dream to Reality – Oman Botanic Garden’s Gigantic Plant-Conservation Project

2025-05-29 Harm Jaap Smit

Dr Annette Patzelt – Botanist & Vegetation Ecologist

We are happy to present the next webinar in our series, Global Goals, Local Impact: Sustainably Ever After! The webinars in this series are free of charge and conducted in English. Register here.

Tuesday, 3 June 2025 | 18:00 – 19:30 CET

Why This Webinar Matters

The Sultanate of Oman in the southern Arabian Peninsula is mainly characterised by arid habitats. However, in stark contrast to the deserts, the country also contains monsoon-affected subtropical cloud forest vegetation and unique high-altitude Juniper woodland. Many areas in the country are regional centres of plant endemism.

The last decades have seen intensified botanical research, with many field expeditions to isolated areas, which were new to science. The exploration and applied research of flora and vegetation formed the basis for the development of Oman Botanic Garden, the largest botanic garden worldwide currently under construction.

The progress in the development of Oman Botanic Garden will be presented to exemplify the steps emerging out of an initial big idea on the way to successful delivery of a gigantic plant conservation project.

Oman Botanic Garden seeks to become an iconic tourist destination, a world-class facility for the conservation of Arabia’s plants, as well as a fascinating and inspirational centre for education. To achieve these ambitious goals, the Oman Botanic Garden incorporates innovative and integrated science and design solutions, to showcase the unique flora and vegetation of the country.

Meet the Speaker

Dr Annette Patzelt – Botanist & Vegetation Ecologist

What to Expect

Field to Flagship: how exploratory botany laid the groundwork for the OBG masterplan.
Designing for Extremes: innovative biomes, nursery technology and integrated landscape architecture in an arid climate.
Community & Conservation: seed-banking, habitat restoration and local capacity-building.
From Vision to Visitor: milestones, challenges and lessons learned in delivering one of the world’s most ambitious plant-conservation projects.

Why Teachers & Biologists will benefit

Real-world STEM content linking ecology, climate adaptation and sustainable development.
Case studies for project-based learning on biodiversity, water management and eco-tourism.
Inspiration for students to connect local conservation action with global Sustainable Development Goals.

Register Now

Participation is free. Secure your place via this link

The ECBA is a consortium member in the SYNAPSES Erasmus+ School Heads and Teacher Academy, promoting Sustainability Citizenship in schools.

Sustainability Citizenship skills and competencies include the ability to recognize the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of climate change, the capacity to connect local actions and initiatives to global processes, and the ability to transition from analysis to systematic action on climate change and sustainability issues.

The SYNAPSES Academy has the ambition to design and establish strong professional learning ecosystems around school communities. Through blended formal and informal learning opportunities we will support the development of whole and open-school approaches that offers pathways to transformative learning experiences for Sustainability Citizenship. As a Teacher Academy, SYNAPSES is funded by the Erasmus+ programme to create European partnerships and promote cooperation between teacher education institutions and training providers.

If you are interested in the SYNAPSES Erasmus+ School Heads and Teacher Academy, you can sign up for the SYNAPSES Newsletter here.