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Speaker 1: Seven two Weekend Breakfast Sustainable Living.

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Speaker 2: Seventeen minutes before eight o'clock. Welcome back to seven oh

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Speaker 2: two Weekend Breakfast with Me, Gooks and Stingham. Time for

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Speaker 2: us to talk sustainability and this week is National Gardens Week.

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Speaker 2: National Gardens Week runs from the ninth to the fifteenth

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Speaker 2: of March and it's meant to encourage South African citizens

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Speaker 2: and residents to enjoy free access to our botanical and

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Speaker 2: zoological gardens and to speak to us about the importance

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Speaker 2: of National Gardens Week, which are now on the line

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Speaker 2: by Director for Conservation, Gardens and Tourism at the South

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Speaker 2: African National Biodiversity Institute, Thompson. Muchilo joins us on the line. Thompson,

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Speaker 2: A very good morning to you, Welcome to weekend Breakfast.

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Speaker 1: Good morning Gook and the listener.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much for giving us your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: Thomson tell us from Sandby's perspective, why is this week

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Speaker 2: so important National Gardens Week? Why is it so crucial.

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Speaker 1: The week ist im contract because normally will receive about

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Speaker 1: one point five to two million visitors, but when we

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Speaker 1: look at the laitorship to our gardens, the numbers are

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Speaker 1: not as huge. As issued and that these are actually

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Speaker 1: the gardens that are positioned in this near the cities. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: one would expect more people to come and learn more

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Speaker 1: about the biodiversity and the use of plants and our

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Speaker 1: animals to the zoo and what what what what is

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Speaker 1: happening from educational point of view, And we took we

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Speaker 1: took a conscious that we want to open our gardens

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Speaker 1: for free so that we allow everyone to come and

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Speaker 1: enjoy the gardens open space.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and so you know, this year's theme is your

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Speaker 2: free Passport to Nature, Celebrate, restore and protect all life.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about this particular theme and white so important

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Speaker 2: that you know, for instance, the public is made aware

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Speaker 2: of the importance not just to celebrate our biodiversity and

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Speaker 2: our gardens, but to restore and protect them.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, our thing is braised on that we want to

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Speaker 1: get people to the gardens to come and experience and

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Speaker 1: learn more about potanical guardian spaces and then intent it's

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Speaker 1: part of an educational program in which we expect then

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Speaker 1: but visitors when they go back to their own residential area,

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Speaker 1: township or suburbs wherever, so that they can practice the

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Speaker 1: issue of living in harmony with nature. And also so

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Speaker 1: that our environment is clean and the y is liverbolia.

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Speaker 1: The whole campaign that we've just done, we're doing now

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Speaker 1: which I need to clear up the issue of the

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Speaker 1: Castain Bush Victorians. It's not for free for a weekend.

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Speaker 1: It was only free from Monday, the night they take tend.

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Speaker 1: Then the rest of other guardens are open for free.

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Speaker 1: Just to clear that consition because something insisting Castle Bus

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Speaker 1: thinking that that is free on the weekend week but

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Speaker 1: all other gardens that we have free except the zool,

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Speaker 1: which is we just dropped the price from undery tend

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Speaker 1: to puns it round right And.

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Speaker 2: So you know, often we think of botanical gardens and

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Speaker 2: zoo use the spaces for young people to attend children

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Speaker 2: Miniversal of God on a school trip, either to a

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Speaker 2: botanical garden or the zoo. But the ideas that you know,

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Speaker 2: these spaces are also for adults, not just for the kids.

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Speaker 2: But it's the idea that there are also spaces for

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Speaker 2: you know, interest for learning that grown ups can benefit

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Speaker 2: from as well.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, you are absolutely correct. I mean at the zoo

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Speaker 1: in Pretoria and we have a breeding program of the

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Speaker 1: kid Voucha. We've been built up since if its very

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Speaker 1: successfully so that we're able to conserve these kid vouchures

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Speaker 1: that are threttend in the wild and then we introduced them.

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Speaker 1: We also have fun gazer and the lizard, which were

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Speaker 1: a problem. We have successfully better them, which is they're small.

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Speaker 1: You know that one can get out of visiting the

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Speaker 1: body health guidents or an above technique, hiking and all

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Speaker 1: the other activities. But there's a lot of educational programs

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Speaker 1: associated with our botan health guidented resolves.

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Speaker 2: I see here at the Free State now Botanical Garden.

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Speaker 2: There's the opportunity to learn about medicinal plants. Tell us

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Speaker 2: about that.

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Speaker 1: It's one of our kids in Throughout throughout our botanical gardens,

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Speaker 1: we felt that we need to actually teach people about

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Speaker 1: ethnal biology botany so that we teach people about medicinal plants.

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Speaker 1: Most of our gardens does as a section that is

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Speaker 1: dedicated to teaching people about the medicinal plants, what the

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Speaker 1: plants are used, and you know how to use those

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Speaker 1: plants and then how to grow those plans. There's a

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Speaker 1: huge interest in the world now into looking into this

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Speaker 1: ethnal botanical medicine so that the people can be able

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Speaker 1: to you know, to leave much healthier using our indigenous plants.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot of respects depending in the space. But

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Speaker 1: we grow this part, we display them and we educate

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Speaker 1: the public about their use. Therefore, young kids help come

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Speaker 1: to the garden, you know, they may learn and also

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Speaker 1: pursue potential career in pharmacegital industry on the basis that

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Speaker 1: they saw some of these messages that we have in

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Speaker 1: our botting can gardens.

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Speaker 2: Right, what is the difference between botanical garden and a

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Speaker 2: zoological garden.

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Speaker 1: A botting now garden and is more space in which

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Speaker 1: we do what we call we collect plants for conservation,

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Speaker 1: research and education. Then the zolutionical garden which is basing

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Speaker 1: in Pretoria, it was amalgamated into Salbi and then the

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Speaker 1: focus on the on the on the on the animal part.

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Speaker 1: And also they also have gardens but they display different

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Speaker 1: kind of plants of animals and plants, but the main

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Speaker 1: focuses on on animals display and research and were with

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Speaker 1: the best inland aquarium in the all of Africa which

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Speaker 1: is based the zoo and the Red Tile Facility. And

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Speaker 1: they also have some Big five except the elephant with

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Speaker 1: the lions. People can still go there and really enjoy

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Speaker 1: explore the animals in the eclosure.

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Speaker 2: So you mentioned that Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden Coast

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Speaker 2: in Bosh and there was one other one that isn't free,

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Speaker 2: but it is discounted until today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you correct. Only the zulus He Garden which is

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Speaker 1: in Pretoria is discounted from hundred and ten to penty fiend,

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Speaker 1: but nearly seventy five percent discount. Then Pretoria and waters

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Speaker 1: A Sulu are not discounted over the weekend. There were

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Speaker 1: only discontent only Monday until the saent there.

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Speaker 2: Okay, And so someone's looking to catch the very last

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Speaker 2: day of National Gardens Wig which is today. Do you

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Speaker 2: just bring what do you need to bring to get

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Speaker 2: access to the parks that are currently still free.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you just want to bring your proof of for

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Speaker 1: identification and then you can visit in all our gardens

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Speaker 1: address to the state or Brando. Anywaysidembla with would Caru

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Speaker 1: and our portab day by biggest bay well with a

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Speaker 1: lot of guidance spread out across the country. Therefore, today

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Speaker 1: is the right time to go out and just go

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Speaker 1: and celebrate with us and enjoy visiting our spaces. The hiking,

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Speaker 1: listening to the bed you know, have a bite at

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Speaker 1: our restaurants, which are you know one some of the

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Speaker 1: best in.

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Speaker 2: The country, right Thompson, I must thank you so so

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Speaker 2: much for giving us your time this morning. A great

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Speaker 2: pleasure having you.

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Speaker 1: On the show. Thank you so much, and listeners, thank you.

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Speaker 2: That's Thompson Mucinello, director for Conservation, Gardens and Tourism at

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Speaker 2: the South African National Biodiversity Institute, speaking to us and

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Speaker 2: the very last day of National Gardens with twenty twenty six.

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Speaker 2: So if you haven't planned your afternoon, maybe visit one

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Speaker 2: of our botanical gardens today