Conference 2015
"Up the Garden Path"

Venue: Te Papa, Wellington.
Date: 2-4 March 2015.

The Up the Garden Path conference provided a unique opportunity for the amenity horticulture sector to come together at Te Papa, Wellington, to examine current best practice and to explore how the industry can work together in the future.

As well as examining current industry best practice, the event explored the forming of conservation partnerships for the management of native and exotic species, how we train our employees of the future, how we work together to share the knowledge held across the sector, value the contribution of both public and private sectors and how we speak with one voice. A key desired outcome of the event was to establish a platform to lay the foundation for a shared vision and strategy for the industry.

Up the Garden Path was jointly organised by the New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA), Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ), and the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture (RNZIH). It brought together major amenity horticulture conferences and events that were previously run separately by these organisations. The New Zealand Gardens Trust (NZGT) also joined the event and ran a pre-event gardens tour that was available to all delegates.

The conference explored the path to the future for amenity and premier gardens in New Zealand and Australia.

BANKS MEMORIAL LECTURE (a free public lecture)
Advocacy of Nature Conservation in New Zealand: Are there Dilemmas?

By Emeritus Prof Alan Mark

The Banks Memorial Lecture is a free lecture open to the public. It commemorates Sir Joseph Banks, botanist on Captain Cook's first voyage to New Zealand. During a later distinguished scientific career, he was Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London.

Venue: Icon Function Room, Level 2, Te Papa, Wellington.
Date: Tuesday 3 March 2015.
Time: 6.30 pm.
Cost: Free.

Biography:
Alan Mark is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Otago; a professional plant ecologist who has spent most of his lifetime researching the ecology and sustainable management requirements of a wide range of indigenous ecosystems, most notably the South Island high country tussocklands and the Fiordland lakes Manapouri and Te Anau.

He has published some 200 scientific papers and a book on NZ Alpine Plants, recently revised as "Above the Treeline: A nature guide to alpine New Zealand".

Alan remains a strong advocate for the sustainable management and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous ecosystems. He belongs to several professional and conservation organisations and has served as a government appointee on several organisations: the Manapouri-Te Anau Lake Guardians (Chair for the first 26 years), the NZ National Parks and Reserves Authority, NZ Conservation Authority, Otago Conservation Board, Land Settlement Board, NZ Mountain Lands Committee. Alan is a foundation member of the Mid Dome Wilding Tree Trust, having been involved in wilding tree eradication in the South Island high country since the late 1990s. He was an elected member of the Otago Catchment Board (Dunedin City rep.) for 4 terms. He is the New Zealand member of the Temperate Grassland Conservation Initiative (TGCI) of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Alan is a Distinguished Life Member of the Forest & Bird Protection Society, a Life Member of the N.Z. Ecological Society, the Ecological Society of America (2002), and an Honorary Member of the NZ Alpine Club. Alan's research has been recognised by his peers: Fellow of the Royal Society of NZ (1978), recipient of the Society's Hutton Medal (1997) and Fleming Environmental Award (2010). He received a CBE in 1989, a DCNZM in 2001 and was knighted (KNZM) in 2009 for his scientific contributions to conservation in New Zealand. He received an Honorary DSc from the University of Otago in 2014.

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