The national botanical garden system is a network of ex-situ plant conservation sites at the national level. According to the State Council’s approval document, Shenyang National Botanical Garden (SNBG) has been included in the national botanical garden system’s layout plan, representing the typical botanical garden in the region of Northeast China. On September 1, 2023, a meeting for setting up the SNBG was held in Shenyang City. It was co-organized by the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Liaoning Province, the People’s Government of Shenyang Municipality, and the Institute of Applied Ecology (IAE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). 

The meeting invited 27 renowned domestic experts in botany and related fields, including academicians HONG Deyuan, XU Zhihong, YIN Weilun, LI Yu, CHEN Wenfu, LI Jian, CAO Fuliang, LI Tianlai, ZHANG Shougong, YU Guirui, researchers Chen Jin, Ren Hai and others. They formed a consulting expert group led by CAS academician HONG Deyuan. Officials from Liaoning Provincial Government, Shenyang Municipal Government and relevant departments and bureaus, as well as the director and other leaders of IAE attended the meeting. 

The meeting was chaired by JIN Donghai, director of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Liaoning Province and researcher Chen Jin, former director of Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden of the CAS. Guo Lixin, deputy director of the Wildlife Conservation and Monitoring Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Sun Jiafeng, deputy secretary-general of Liaoning Provincial People’s Government, Liu Xuhui, deputy mayor of the Shenyang Municipal People’s Government, Xu Hang, deputy director of the Bureau of Science and Technology Development of the CAS gave speeches at the meeting. 

Researcher HE Xingyuan presented a report on building the SNBG, covering project background and significance, overall layout, construction plans, investment estimates, etc.

The consulting experts carefully reviewed documents such as the “Shenyang National Botanical Garden Set-up Plan” and the “Shenyang National Botanical Garden Conceptual Planning and Design Plan” and offered valuable opinions and suggestions. The consulting expert group unanimously agreed to build the SNBG and pointed out that the SNBG is an important and indispensable part of the national botanical garden system. It is significant for protecting endangered plants in China’s cold temperate zone and conserving the biodiversity of the Northeast China Forest Belt and the Northern China Sand Control Belt. They agreed that the SNBG plan has clear objectives, reasonable layout that can meet the requirements for the  national botanical garden system construction. The consulting expert group suggested that Liaoning Province and Shenyang City strengthen support in all aspects and coordinate and solve key issues such as state-owned forest land allocation as soon as possible; effectively enhance the team building of plant taxonomy and conservation biology; accurately identify the protection targets; and establish a first-class botanical garden in Northeast Asia.

Sun Jiafeng, deputy secretary-general of Liaoning Provincial People’s Government, concluded in his speech that the SNBG project is a concrete practice of implementing the concept of ecological civilization, and Liaoning Province will spare no effort to promote high-quality construction of the project. 

The consulting expert group visited the Shenyang Arboretum and its Huishan branch, as well as the current site of the Shenyang Botanical Garden, and highly praised the project’s preliminary work in ex-situ conservation, scientific research, infrastructure construction, science education, landscaping and horticulture.