CATIE Botanical Garden celebrates its 22^nd anniversary

• From the 1940s to date, this garden receives hundreds of national and foreign tourists a year, who learn about the flora and fauna of the tropics.

December 14, 2023. The Dr. Jorge León Arguedas of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) is celebrating its 22^ndanniversary.

As part of an initiative promoted by the General Direction of CATIE, at the time led by Dr. Pedro Ferreira, it was decided to open to the public on December 14, 2001, making it a site of scientific interest, conservation, education, tourism and recreation.

From the 1940s to date, the education, introduction, conservation and distribution of germplasm have been the objectives of the germplasm banks and the CATIE Botanical Garden, so that the attention to visitors also became a priority with the objective of projecting all this knowledge to the turrialbeña, national and international community.

This site of diversity in flora, native and exotic fauna is located 3 km from the center of the city of Turrialba, staffed by qualified personnel, which provides visitors with accurate information based on science and in different languages. It is a place with accessibility for people with disabilities. Currently, it has three thematic gardens: the native bromeliad garden, the garden of medicinal and magical plants, the collection of heliconias and a great diversity of native and exotic plants and trees.

Its iconic flower is orange, which according to bibliographic references and the book of introductions is the first plant introduced in the Botanical Garden of CATIE in 1944. The Brownea macrophylla known as Rosa del Monte or Rosa de Venezuela, which is the emblem of the garden. Brownea macrophylla conocida como Rosa del Monte o Rosa de Venezuela, que es emblema del jardín.

Dedication

The garden was named in honor of Dr. Jorge León Arguedas, Costa Rican botanist who focused his research on phylogenetic resources and ethno-botany in America, Asia and Europe. He contributed to the study of Andean crops in Peru, food production and soil conservation in Panama; supported the production of farming families in the Central Valley of Costa Rica; collaborated with the establishment, increase and strengthening of coffee germplasm banks in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama and researched the link between plant resources and their traditional use.

He was head of the Genetic Resources Unit of CATIE (1976-1983), head of the Department of Resource Development for Research and Teaching (1982-1983) and professor of Tropical Crops and Research Methods at the InterAmerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). In addition, he was a professor of Genetic Resources at CATIE, a subject he also taught for many years at the University of Costa Rica.