Is there a place for philosophy in the botanical garden?

Abstract

We must cultivate our garden'; so wrote Voltaire at the conclusion of his famous satirical novel, Candide. In the French language the word 'cultivate' has a double meaning consistent with the dual mission of a botanical garden: (1) conserving the plant collections according to approved techniques while at the same time (2) transmitting essential knowledge of plants, ecology and related themes to the public. The latter task entails the transmission not merely of information, but of ideas, concepts and nally, a philosophy of nature and environment according to which the information is organized and interpreted. How do we evoke the world of ideas in a botanical garden? In 2012 the botanical gardens of Neuchâtel and Geneva hosted exhibits for the tercentenary of Jean Jacques Rousseau's birth (1712-1778). These exhibits provided a much-needed opportunity to broach the concept of nature philosophy, a theme relatively rarely addressed by botanical institutions. As concrete examples of applied nature philosophy we take ideas about forestry management in the canton of Neuchâtel articulated by Jean Jacques Rousseau, Frédéric Samuel Ostervald (1713-1795), Henri Biolley (1858-1939), Robert Hainard (1906-1999) and Denis de Rougemont (1906-1985). From over-exploitation of forests in the 18th century to implementation of the late nineteenth-century productivity principle, and the more recent adoption of the cultivated forest concept, we see the emergence of an awareness of the need to protect our natural inheritance. We argue that botanical gardens should together with other institutions and NGO's share the responsibility for transmitting such ideas.