Mission of the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden

Our mission statement is succinct: About Plants, With Plants, For Plants.

With a better future in mind, we discover, protect and educate on the plant world.

We execute this mission through the following:

• Creating and maintaining properly-documented compilations of living plants and natural-scientific collections appropriate for museum purposes (including the Herbarium), while attaching importance to their high scientific, conservational, and aesthetic value
• conducting and participating in interdisciplinary scientific research; engaging in scientific cooperation with other UW institutes, universities and research institutions; making the plant material and the Botanic Garden’s area available to scientific bodies for research purposes
• conservation-related activities aimed at the in situ and ex situ protection of plant biodiversity, specifically of the declining and endangered species
• academic teaching focused on biology and ecology of plants, their diversity, relationships between plants and other organisms, and the cultural role of plants in human societies
• public education – based on sound scientific knowledge and promoting the use of the scientific method to learn about the world – addressed to all who wish to unlock the secrets of plants and nature as a whole
• social, artistic and promotional activity the main purpose of which is to bring out the role of plants in the world and highlight the connection between man and nature
• actions aimed at slowing down the climate change.

We achieve our goals, to the best of our ability and resources, by adhering to the principles of sustainable development, by being mindful of nature, the environment and the climate.

Life on Earth depends heavily on plants. Our human well-being is also directly dependent on these organisms as they produce the oxygen we breathe, constitute our primary source of food, help purify water and supply us with medicinal substances and fibres for making clothes.

Indeed, it is plants that stabilize the climate and are the main component of terrestrial ecosystems. They inspire us and grant us aesthetic sensations. Communing with natural plants has therapeutic effects.

As the entire global ecosystem suffers from human activity, more and more plant species are under threat of extinction. If we are to reverse this trend and preserve the abundance and diversity of plants for future generations, we must act by harnessing all scientific advances.

Equipped with expertise and skills, and responding to social needs, we, the staff of the Botanic Garden, bring greenery to a world that is increasingly urbanized and disconnected from nature. We educate on the need to draw closer to nature and live more in tune with it. We inspire people to learn about plants – to protect them and the nature as a whole.

In the welcoming space we have created, researchers, educators and gardeners are free to pursue their passions and research projects with a sense of responsibility and impact on the future of life on Earth.