34 / 98
34
“I like my job. It takes me out into the
higher mountains, you have to cross
flooded rivers, some nights we don’t
sleep in our tent because it’s wet, and it’s
a sacrifice, to make biodiversity come to
the classroom, come to the public. So
it’s a challenge, but it’s very adventurous,
that’s the nature of our job.”
The scenes he’s describing are a
far cry from his modern hotel room in
Taiwan, yet Myknee Sirikolo, director of
the National Herbarium and Botanical
Gardens in his native Solomon Islands,
has no trouble conjuring up visions of his
homeland’s pristine jungle island habit.
As the Solomon Islands’ most
experienced botanist, Myknee leads a
team of nearly 20 staff responsible for
the operations of the herbarium and
gardens based in the country’s capital,
Honiara, working under the Ministry of
Forestry and Research.
Myknee is here in Taiwan as one of
six Solomon Islanders participating in the
TaiwanICDF’s Workshop on Biodiversity
and the Germplasm Conservation of
Plant Resources, arranged to fit into
the wider operations of an ongoing
TaiwanICDF project, the Census and
Classification of Plant Resources in the
Solomon Islands, which is being carried
out by the Solomon Islands government
and the TaiwanICDF, alongside experts
from Taiwan’s National Museum of
Natural Science and Dr. Cecilia Koo
Botanic Conservation Center.
Myknee explains that the goal of
the project is to establish the capacity
to investigate plant resources and
to perform plant conservation work.
He says this is crucial not just to him
as a botanist, but also necessary to
promote conservation and safeguard his
country’s valuable biodiversity.
To record the Solomon Islands’ flora
as systematically and comprehensively
as possible, project implementation,
running from 2012 through to 2017,
involves conducting surveys from island
to island.
“Since the Solomons is made up
of several hundred islands, we have
identified different target areas,” Myknee
explains. “Like this year, the focus is to
do collections on Choiseul and Isabel,
two of the six biggest islands in the
Solomons.”
Lectures, Visits and Hands-
On Experiences Cover Crucial
Conservation Work
Turning to his time in Taiwan, Myknee
says that as part of the workshop he
and his group have participated in a
range of lectures, visits and hands-on
experiences concerning the handling
of plant and germplasm material.
Participants initially visited Taiwan’s
botanic gardens and conservation
sites where these kinds of activities are
carried out. From there, the workshop
moved on to cover specific plant
groups, which Myknee says was very
relevant to work in the Solomon Islands.
Participants also received overviews of
deeper taxonomic studies and research
done by Taiwanese experts.
“One of the things that I gained
here is the strong connection between
scientific research, the institutions
that are involved in manipulating the
information brought about by scientific
research, and those who are actually
using available resources to build up
economic activities,” Myknee says.
Myknee is also taking a number
o f mo r e p r ac t i ca l , da y - t o - da y
examples home with him. He says
that an insectivorous plant set up as
a focal point at the Dr. Koo Botanic
Conservation Center really attracted a lot
of attention because of its “strangeness”
and “mysteriousness.” These types of
plants are often something that only
academics have contact with, but
having seen this “wow factor” in effect,
Myknee says he’s realized that if you
give the public access then people
are really curious and keen to learn.
He’d like to do something similar in
the Solomon Islands, as well as put up
more signboards, written information
and pictures to highlight the particular
significance, uses and characteristics of
certain key species of plants.
Overall, the workshop has left
Myknee in positive spirits as the project
moves forward.
“Coming here, in the last two
weeks we’ve learned a lot and we’ve
made plans to go back and promote
more networking, sharing, trying to
develop new plans to further promote
conservation work and research work
with the plant resources that we have,”
he says.
“With new knowledge, we have
confidence that we’ll address these
issues at a higher standard that will be
more visible to the public and to our
government.”
Myknee Sirikolo, Director, National Herbarium and
Botanical Gardens, Solomon Islands
Building the Capacity to Identify
And Safeguard the Solomon Islands’
Valuable Plant Biodiversity
Interview
2
