| | Scientific research in the Gardens spans purely taxonomic research through to the relevance of technical applications to conservation efforts for all plants groups, and their pragmatic applications in the floriculture, herbal and medicinal plant industries.
The National Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya has a unique collection of about 132,000 specimens. Some of the specimens are almost 200 years old and represent a valuable floral catalogue as well as an interesting historical record. Year on year, there are more visits to the national herbarium by researchers and members of the general public. There is an important new role for the Gardens in being recognised as the National Red Listing Authority for Plants in Sri Lanka, one that is well within current scope and that articulates well with the traditions of a national herbarium.
By 2010 it is anticipated that a new national centre for biodiversity will be established. As a strategy this approach binds together the various, and seemingly disparate, strands of activity into a single unit. Biodiversity is increasingly perceived as the way forward for 21st century conservation efforts. It encompasses policy and practice areas, and will focus on activities that support both. Activities proposed range from meeting the needs of a national plant repository and bio prospecting through to informing higher education programmes on biodiversity.
One of the most important functions of the Botanic Gardens is the ex-situ conservation of Sri Lankan flora. Ex situ conservation involves the collecting, handling and management (including research) of germplasm, its storage, regeneration, characterization/evaluation, documentation and dissemination to users. This involves a temporary set of living germplasm preservation techniques that are usually applied as choices of last resort. Ex-situ conservation in its current form was started in Sri Lanka with the establishment of Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya in 1821.
The techniques include, but are not limited to: propagule collection from natural populations and cryogenic storage, garden propagation, tissue culture, transplantation, and the establishment of new populations in nature.
Botanic gardens conduct research on the cultivation requirements, the reproductive biology and the propagation of individual plants. Such information is essential to be able to reintroduce the plants back into the wild and to provide material for restoring and rehabilitating natural habitats.
The three major national botanic gardens in Sri Lanka (Peradeniya, Hakgala and Gampaha) today contain over 8,000 plant species. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya alone contains an estimated 4,500 species of plants of which over 90% are no native.
Until recently, botanic gardens have been underutilized in maintenance of threatened species and conservation of genetic resources. Although they contain a large proportion of the native flora, the gardens have traditionally not been integrated into overall biodiversity conservation programmes.
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Taxonomy & conservation