Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden >> Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

          Thailand is endowed with plant diversity. The vascular plants, especially, are as many as 15,000 species. Many of them are of economic and medicinal importance. So far, no comprehensive study on the usefulness of these plants has been conducted. To make the best use of the resource and to obtain a sustainable benefit from them, promotion of research work and propagation of these valuable plants should go hand in hand with environmental conservation. Such a project will surely be supportive of the plant conservation activities, the efficacy of the natural resource and environmental development.

          In October 1991, the Biodiversity Board of Thailand appointed by ICSU-Thai, held a conference on “Thailand’s Biodiversity” at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Energy. The conference called for an awareness of the increasing importance of flora resources. A concern was also expressed on the rapid disappearance of some species of the presently unknown plants. Therefore, it was deemed urgent to promote the conservation of plants by the involvement of botanical gardens in particular.

          The conference concluded with the realization that Thailand had not yet had a true botanical garden to serve as a supportive unit in education and research which will lead to plant conservation. Therefore, a suggestion was made to set up the Botanical Garden Organization with the objective to make it possible for Thailand to have a botanical garden of international standard. Following the BGO establishment, the Mae Sa Botanic Garden at Mae Rim, Chiang Mai was transferred from the Royal Forest Department to be under the administration of the BGO. And was granted Her Majesty’s permission to use the name as Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden (QSBG) in 1994.