[Science News] - Cooperation between the Botanic Gardens of Meise and Rio de Janeiro highlighted during Belgian Economic Mission

Yesterday evening, 28 November 2024, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Representative of His Majesty the King, the signing of the Letter of Understanding between Meise Botanic Garden and Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro was highlighted in a ceremony at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. The two gardens will work closely in the future on the Reflora project, a virtual herbarium of Brazilian flora. 

Launched in 2013, the Reflora Virtual Herbarium today contains more than 4.46 million high-resolution images of plants collected in Brazil, dating back to the 18th century. Of these images, 157,000 represent nomenclatural types, which are specimens on which the scientific naming of the plant species is based. More than 90% of these nomenclatural types are in European and American herbaria.

Meise Botanic Garden becomes the 86th project partner, joining 68 Brazilian and 17 international herbaria. Meise will contribute more than 57,000 images and related data of specimens collected in Brazil to the project, including 11,167 nomenclature types.

Most of these specimens are part of the Martius Herbarium, a collection of 300,000 items acquired by the Belgian government in 1870. Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868) was a German naturalist, botanist and ethnographer who undertook an expedition to Brazil (1817-1820). What he described and brought back to Munich was a wealth of information for science. Based on his herbarium, the ‘Flora Brasiliensis’, a book series describing the Brazilian flora, was then created. The accessibility of these specimens on the Reflora portal will significantly improve scientific research even today.

The ceremony took place during the Belgian Economic Mission to Brazil (22 November to 1 December 2024), where the Princess represents His Majesty the King during the mission visiting São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.