Page 24 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

Canadian Botanical Association
L’Association Botanique

Canadian Botanical Association/ L’ Association Botanique du Canada was founded in 1964,
became a corporation in 1979, and in 2014, in its 50th anniversary year, was continued as a not-
for-profit corporation under the Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act, and adopted the Institut
de recherche en biologie végétale (IRBV) in Montréal as its permanent address. The Canadian
Botanical Association (CBA/ABC) serves as the national organization for botanists in Canada,
including professional botanists at universities, colleges, schools, government and industry as
well as students, technicians and amateurs. The Association represents Canadian Botany and
botanists in matters of local, national and international importance. The preservation of botanically
significant natural areas and herbarium collections is of special interest. The governance is
provided by a Board of Directors currently consisting of 15 members, and the various activities
are conducted within five Sections: Ecology and Conservation; Mycology; Systematics, Evolution
and Biodiversity; Plant Development: Molecules, Cells, and Systems; and Teaching.

Examples of Activities in 2023-2024
The IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) Committee (established in 2021)
focused on (a) guidance for conference local organizing committees on including local First
Nations and other underrepresented groups and reducing barriers to participation, (b)
developing and improving a best practices code for conferences and meetings to ensure safe
and welcoming environments, (c) a survey of member diversity, (d) a workshop together with
CSEE during the annual conference in Winnipeg about open science funding as avenues for
improving accessibility and equity in science. The committee meets regularly.

The Association published three issues of the Bulletin [56 (2, 3), 57 (1)], which documented and
profiled the awards and winners from the 2023 conference, detailed the activities of members
and committees, as well as included book reviews, researcher or student profiles, and a wide
diversity of articles on different botanical themes. The website was updated to include a page
that gathered a comprehensive collection of ca. 150 articles previously published in the Bulletin:
“Portraits of native, alien/invasive, and ornamental plants in Canada”.

In the past year, CBA/ABC has strongly supported the preservation of the Kew herbarium at its
current location and advocated against the decision to close DUKE herbarium. Resolutions
were adopted by the Board of Directors and lobbying was conducted with the administrations of
these institutions and other governing bodies.

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