UH Hilo Botanical Garden achieves international accreditation in plant conservation

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The accreditation from Botanic Gardens Conservation International showcases the importance of protecting the extraordinary plants found in the UH Hilo Botanical Garden.

Don Hemmes stands in the gardens.
Don Hemmes in the UH Hilo Botanical Garden. Emeritus Professor of Biology Hemmes founded the gardens on the campus over 30 years ago. (Courtesy photo)

By Susan Enright.

After two years of hard work and completing a 100 page application, Botanic Gardens Conservation International has recognized the Botanical Garden at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo as an accredited garden. The accreditation was issued in December.

Green certificate: BGCI Botanic Garden Accreditation. This is to certify that Botanic Garden at UH Hilo, US, is a BCGI accredited Botanical Garden that conforms to the highest international standards. The BCGI Botanic Garden Accreditation distinguishes botanic gardens from non-botanic gardens and recognizes achievements in plant conservation. Issued 12 Dec 2024. Valid for 5 years.
Accreditation certificate for UH Hilo Botanical Garden from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International. (Courtesy image, click to enlarge)
Robert Talbert stands in garden next to flowering cycad.
Robert Talbert in the garden next to flowering cycad. (Courtesy photo)

BGCI is the largest plant conservation network in the world. The organization coordinates, empowers, and mobilizes their members to prioritize, plan, act, and monitor plant conservation — preventing extinctions and promoting sustainability.

“This accreditation is a testament to the passion and dedication of our volunteers,” says Robert Talbert, a key contributor to the accreditation process who oversees volunteers at the garden. “It showcases the importance of protecting these extraordinary plants.”

UH Hilo Botanical Garden was started over 30 years ago by Emeritus Professor Don Hemmes, a retired biologist who still maintains the lush displays he founded. The garden contains a large collection of cycads (over 120 species), hybrid bromeliads, and gigantic palms.

“I started [the garden] around 1990,” says Hemmes. “When I first came here [in 1973], it was to teach botany. I was teaching the life cycle of a pine tree, and one of the students in my class raised her hand and said, ‘What’s a pine tree?’ She had never seen one, so I planted the first pine trees over here, and it just got out of control.”

Several cycads and plams in the garden.
A recent photo of cycads and palms in the UH Hilo Botanical Garden which was founded over 30 years ago by biology professor Don Hemmes. (Courtesy photo)
Helen stands next to gigantic palm fronds.
Helen Hemmes, wife of Emeritus Professor Don Hemmes who founded the UH Hilo Botanical Garden over 30 years ago, stands under giant fronds of a palm in the garden. (Courtesy photo)

The botanical garden was carved out of a once overgrown gulch alongside the UH Hilo residence halls. Paths were built through the conifer trees for the students who had never seen a live pine. Planted nearby are close to a hundred species of cycads from Africa, China, North and Central America and Australia. “They look like palms, with names like sago or king palm, but they are in no way related to palms,” says Hemmes.

In May, UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin planted a rare palm in the garden. The planting was in recognition of National Public Gardens Day.

Large group gather in garden for photo.
Attending the National Public Gardens Day event at the UH Hilo Botanical Gardens on May 15, 2024, were Chancellor Bonnie Irwin (center front in lei), founder of the gardens Professor Emeritus of Biology Don Hemmes (center front in cap) and his wife Helen, along with UH Hilo biologists, members of the Hawaiʻi Island Palm Society, and volunteers who tend the gardens. (Courtesy photo)

The gardens are open daily without charge; individuals and groups are invited to visit. For more information, contact Prof. Hemmes.

Campus gardens maps

In 2021, UH Hilo launched an online map of the many gardens on campus including the Botanical Garden. The Gardens at UH Hilo website gives visitors a bird’s eye view of the campus with a marker on each of the gardens. Click on the marker and a photo and description pops up.

There are many instructional gardens across UH Hilo’s campus, some for cultural awareness, and others for hands-on agricultural experience. The website invites all members of the campus community “to participate in campus improvement and garden projects, so they might learn about native plants, history, and the host culture, while getting their hands in the dirt and finding new ways to spend time in nature.”

Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

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