In a healthy ecosystem, all species work together to maintain balance and provide us with many services. These include water purification, CO₂ sequestration, coastal protection, disease and pest control, pollination – which is essential for our food supply – and a healthy living environment. A great diversity of species makes for strong and resilient nature. Diversity makes ecosystems less vulnerable and thus also makes our society more resilient to change and threats. But what if that diversity declines?
Several things are currently happening at once. Over the past hundred years, the habitat of plants has shrunk due to urbanisation and the intensification of agriculture. In addition we are facing rapid climate change: species are unable to adapt to sufficiently. As habitats disappear or change, plant species disappear too. However, the loss of plant species extends beyond the loss of the plants themselves. This also means the disappearance of food, shelter and protection for many other (animal) species. Biodiversity is disrupted and nature – including humans – become more vulnerable to diseases, pests and other threats.
Nature as we know it, and on which we depend for our lives on Earth, needs our help and attention. Plants will ultimately survive, even if we do nothing and climate change only exacerbates the loss of biodiversity. But humans have both the responsibility and the power to do something about this – our own survival depends on it. When there are sufficient (native) plant species present, a connected and resilient piece of nature emerges. Species can then establish themselves and grow in numbers, which in turn attracts other (animal) species: more plants attract more insects, more insects attract more birds, and so on.
The Dutch flora of the future will consist partly of plants different from those found today. In this new section of the garden, we therefore offer a suggestion as to what the future Dutch flora might look like, based on climate change predictions and plants that are adapted to those conditions.
In one part of the garden, we highlight what you can do yourself, whether you have a garden, a balcony, a vertical garden or just a bit of greenery on the street. You can always do something for nature: from planting a butterfly plant to creating a biodiverse flowerbed; from building an insect hotel to simply mowing less often so that herbs and insects have space to thrive. You can also help science by getting out into nature, taking part in citizen science projects and counting the species present in an area. In this way, you contribute directly to scientific research and to a better understanding of the state of our natural world. We’ll be showcasing all of this through our collection, which is partly existing and partly new. Trees such as the Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica) and the magnolias will be retained. By 2027, you will encounter many new species here, such as the native guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) and black mullein (Verbascum nigrum), along with information on where and how you can plant them yourself.
Thanks to contributions from the Friends of the Amsterdam Hortus Botanicus Association, the Turing Foundation, the Cultuurfonds and the Countess van Bylandt Foundation, we’ve been able to make a good start on the redevelopment, but we’re not there yet. Would you like to make a contribution to this garden project? Every little bit helps!
