Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Portuguese, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Nature-protecting viewers, welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television.

In today’s show, we will visit the picturesque Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in Brazil, and discover its rich history, as well as its scientific, environmental and social programs. We will hear from the park’s President Mr. Liszt Vieira, Director of Research Dr. Rogerio Gribel, Director of Environment and Technology Mr. Guido Gelli, Researcher Ms. Rafaela Compostrini Forzza, and our delightful tour guide, Monica.

Hi, we are speaking here from the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, and we’ll tell you a little bit about the history of the park.

The park area today comprises 137 hectares, and the area we have for visitors is 55 [hectares].

There are actually three institutions in one: it is an outdoor museum, an institute of botanical research, and a great national park, visited by both national and international tourists.

Located at the foot of the Corcovado Mountain, below the right arm of the magnificent statue Christ the Redeemer, the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro is a protected National Historical and Artistic Heritage, and a designated Biosphere Reserve of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In the early 19th century, Prince Dom Juan VI of Portugal arrived with seedlings of spices from Asia and the Caribbean, and thus founded the Botanical Garden.

There are fruits and spices that did not exist in Brazil at that time, such as mango, jackfruit, clove, cinnamon, and pepper. He took this area that was away from the city and created a garden of acclimatization, and from this garden of acclimatization and from another garden which was also created, the botanical garden was born 202 years ago.

The park hence became so famous that Brazilian Emperors Dom Pedro I and Dom Pedro II were its frequent visitors.

This table here used to serve as a base for Dom Pedro and Dom Pedro II to have their snacks here in the afternoon, when they would come to visit the park.

In 1822, during Emperor Pedro II’s reign, the garden was first open to the general public, under the supervision of its first director, Friar Leandro.

Here we are by the Friar Leandro Lake. It is an artificial lake that helps to irrigate the entire botanical garden. This lake was built under the direction of Friar Leandro in 1822. In this lake, we find quite large, very beautiful fish – traíra, tambaqui – and some trees which are typical from Asia. We have fan palm, the traveler´s tree, and some papyrus from Egypt as well. In the lake itself we have some subaquatic plants, which are the Nymphaea and the Victoria amazonica. Here we are in front of the sculpture of Friar Leandro. This elevated part here in the park is the material removed from the lake.

The Botanical Garden also features many other precious sites of historical and artistic significance. The gateway of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts was designed by French artist Auguste Henri Victor Grandjean de Montigny in the 18th century.

The main gateway that we see here in the background is considered the first neo-classical work in Rio de Janeiro. The characteristics of this work, we can see in the communes and upstairs in the drawings of Apollo. Down here we have the gateway that was restored in 1999; it was relocated here.

Here are the two waders and the sculptures of Echo and Narcissus made in life-size by Mestre Valentim. These are in a specific pavilion there.

The Fountain of Muses that is situated presently here in the center of the park and along with the imperial palms represents four women, each one with an instrument, represent music, poetry, science, and art.

The Fountain of Muses has inspired countless artists, as it has numerous scientists who have devoted their lives to the understanding of exquisite plants.

We have about 50 researchers, most of them are doctors and PhDs who are working in various areas of botanical science, each acting in his specialty, traveling to more remote regions here in Brazil, not only here in the region of Atlantic Forest, but also in savannas, the Pantanal, in Amazon, Caatinga, on the Brazilian coast, islands, contributing new species for science. So this is a line of research that is very strong and very important.

After we come back from the countryside with fresh samples, they are stored in this room, which is the greenhouse room here at the Herbarium, and they undergo a process of dehydration and drying.

So here they are mounting a newly collected material. So it is really a handmade work.

After the samples are all mounted, they go into a folder which has the collection number, the botanical garden’s name, the species written on the outer part and the family of this plant. This is very important.

Here we have a sample which was collected in the Amazon forest, a collection by Adolpho Ducke, who was an Austrian botanist. This sample was collected in 1936 at the Madeira River in Amazonas State and as you can see, it is intact. It has been here for nearly 80 years, and it is perfectly preserved inside the collection catalogue, with Mr. Ducke’s own handwriting on the side. This doesn’t have a duplicate; this is a unique sample, irreplaceable.

Out of the Botanical Garden’s collection of some 6,500 species of tropical and subtropical plants, there are 150 varieties of medicinal plants, 600 kinds of orchids, 148 types of bromeliads, 400 species of cactus, and 900 breeds of palm trees. The famous Alley of Palms is a 740-meter-long path that leads from the park entrance to the gardens. It is lined with 235 palms, many of which are taller than 30 feet.

The herbarium of the Botanical Garden from Rio de Janeiro is a great herbarium, the largest Brazilian herbarium, with over half a million samples.

Apart from being an internationally recognized research institution, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is also a well-regarded educational body. It houses the National School of Tropical Botany with 21 teaching faculties and a library of botany featuring over 32,000 volumes. Between 2003 and 2010, 83 people completed their post-graduate degrees, including 15 doctorates. Their dissertations focus on biodiversity and the results of ecosystem research. In addition, the institute also offers training programs to a wide range of participants.

We have a garden of medicinal plants, newly refurbished, where courses are offered and a number of seminars are based on knowledge about medicinal plants and everything from the species that are used in medicine.

There are also guided visits by many children from virtually all schools, all students in Rio de Janeiro. We give courses for teachers; the teachers are trained to be guides themselves.

In the past decades, major efforts have been made in the area of species conservation and environmental education.

Many natural habitats are disappearing due to deforestation, pollution, expansion of urban areas, agricultural expansion, so it is necessary to know well how these plants are in nature, the rarer species, and the species endangered with extinction. In more critical situations, where the risk of extinction is very high, and it is not possible to do conservation on site, then these species are collected from nature and are cultivated here with great care so that they can be maintained in expectation to eliminate the risks on these habitats or restore these habitats or reintroduce these species under natural conditions.

To raise public awareness of the human effect on natural habitats, the Botanical Garden has opened its environmental museum, adding to the numerous tourist attractions in the park.

This is an institution that is visited by more than 650,000 people a year, of which more than 100, 000 are foreigners who visit the Botanical Garden. And people from all over Brazil, from Rio de Janeiro, also come to take photographs, courses in photography, tai chi classes, drawing classes, making model profiles, and to photograph engagements, debuts, graduations. So it is a unique institution.

Serving a great number of visitors each year, the park is constantly enriching its programs, many of which are designed with the principle of social inclusion. One such example is the Sensory Garden which features 32 species of unique plants.

We have a Sensory Garden that is designed for people who have visual limitations, so they can enjoy the species through smell, taste and touch.

We have a social responsibility area where more than 2,000 young men were trained here in gardening courses. We are very proud of this area where we trained these many young people who would have stayed, ultimately, unemployed, without this alternative.

The Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro is truly a world-class institution with extraordinary offerings in many areas. Let’s hear from the president of this prestigious entity, Mr. Liszt Vieira.

The Botanical Garden is under the Ministry of Environment of Brazil. We are in fact to have five main dimensions. We are an institute of scientific research.

The second is education. We have master degree and doctor degree courses in tropical botanics here in Rio. We have also post-graduate courses in environmental management, biodiversity programs, etc. Also [another] dimension is environmental, to take care of this park, this arboretum.

It’s one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world. Our fourth dimension is social. We have programs devoted to people coming from low-income areas. And the fifth and last dimension is cultural. We have inaugurated two years ago, this theater, which is called Theater Tom Jobim, Antonio Carlos Jobim. And also the Museum of the Environment, which is the first Museum of the Environment in Latin America, and one of the first in the world.

We sincerely thank President Mr. Liszt Vieira and members of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden for your comprehensive introduction and your dedication to preserving Brazil’s exquisite resources. May your magnificent natural heritage continue to flourish for innumerable centuries to come, further enriching your treasured nation and a sustainable and long-lasting ecosphere.

Caring viewers, thank you for being with us on today’s episode of A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television. Coming up next is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, after Noteworthy News. May your days be peaceful and filled with heavenly inspiration.