The Montserrat National Trust Botanic Garden

The botanic garden is located in Olveston.

The garden has a variety of plant species, many endemic to Montserrat and the wider Caribbean region. Areas of the garden include the orchid house, medicinal garden, cacti and succulent garden, and a palm promenade.

 

The original botanic garden was situated in Plymouth, but was destroyed by the eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano between 1995 and 1997.

In 2005, the Montserrat National Trust, with partners at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, created a new botanic garden (see: here), to provide a resource for the islanders and as a tourist attraction, educational resource and scientific research centre in order to understand the island’s ecosystems and their long-term conservation.

 

For more information on the garden visit the Montserrat National Trust website here

Medicinal Garden

Provision of Plants

Throughout the project, the native plant nursery has grown and nurtured a variety of plants, including endemics; such as the pribby, Rondeletia buxifolia, food crops and medicinal plants as well as those used in beautification. 

Some of the plants provided to Adopters had specific uses. For example, particularly thorny plants were good for boundaries with the hope of keeping goats away. Others were known for attracting pollinators such as bees and butterflies. 

Project Officers visited Adopt a Home for Wildlife Sites to discuss the various plants that could be provided and which were comparable with their wishes and for their contribution to conservation on the island. 

Young broom palms Coccothrinax barbabensis growing at MNT’s native plant nursery; Copyright: UKOTCF

Garden Development

During the project a variety of training and workshops on horticulture took place. These included MNT staff, young children, Adopters and the wider community. 

Topics included, but were not limited to: biosecurity and hygiene, propagation techniques. The MNT team was bolstered by the arrival of Mr Chris Sealys on a three years funded role. Chris worked with Leigh Morris, CEO of the Manx Wildlife Trust (and UKOTCF Council member) to design an appropriate training programme, and to co-deliver the  training programmes. The first took place in May 2023 and the second in July 2024.

 

See more about the training events visit here

Propagation at the MNT nursery
Propagation at the MNT nursery: Copyright Leigh Morris UKOTCF

As a result of discussions about the future of the garden, MNT decided that it was the right time to join the Botanic Garden Conservation International. The membership of this organisation aims to benefit the island in the following ways:

Some of the training events both in classroom site and in the field
Some of the training events both in classroom site and in the field