10 June 1913

The Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc SA) and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is founded in the same year. The then-government granted the land on which the garden now stands on condition that an organisation is formed from civil society to support its development. 

1913-1916 

Professor Harold Pearson serves as the first director of Kirstenbosch NBG.   

1913 – 1920 

BotSoc volunteers collect firewood, soil and acorns to sell during World War I in order to support Kirstenbosch’s development. Their efforts raised 31% of the total revenue.  

William Duncan Baxter, first chairman of the BotSoc Council, notes members’ dedicated work in the society’s 1914 annual report: ‘The greater part of the permanent work already done at Kirstenbosch stands to the credit of the Botanical Society; if that work is continued without interruption there is no doubt that Kirstenbosch will in time become one of the noted Botanic Gardens of the world’.  

The Journal of the Botanical Society of South Africa is founded, featuring a range of articles on South Africa’s flora and on activities at Kirstenbosch, as well as the society’s annual reports. 

The journal is jointly produced by BotSoc and the Kirstenbosch board of directors.  

The Journal gets a revamp under BotSoc’s sole charge, and the name is changed to Veld & Flora. This lively and informative quarterly magazine continues to be enjoyed by members today. It publishes a wide range of popular articles on South Africa’s flora, gardening with indigenous plants, biodiversity conservation and unpacking botanical research. 

For the first few years of BotSoc’s existence, it was administered from private homes and offices.  

The Botanical Society of South Africa moves into purpose-built offices at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden that are still serving members today.  

BotSoc takes flora conservation over from the Wildflower Conservation Society and plays a significant part in promulgating and enforcing laws against unsustainable harvesting of wildflowers.  

The law-enforcing role of BotSoc is transferred to the Western Cape Department of Nature Conservation, now CapeNature.  

With help from other members of BotSoc, University of Cape Town botany lecturer and Botanical Society Council member Edith Stephens purchases Isoetes Vlei on the Cape Flats, near the present Michell’s Plain. This was donated to Kirstenbosch, preventing loss of a valuable remnant of Cape Flats habitat. It later became the Edith Stephens Wetland Park. 

BotSoc runs a pilot project paying unemployed people to clear alien vegetation from Devil’s Peak as part of the new South African government’s Reconstruction and Development Programme. This was a forerunner to the now world-renowned Working for Water Programme.  

BotSoc establishes its Cape Conservation Unit, focusing strongly on mainstreaming biodiversity through projects and partnerships. This strategy influenced both national and even international conservation practice. In 2010, the unit was disbanded due to lack of funding.  

BotSoc continues to contribute to South Africa’s biodiversity and conservation through our key partnerships with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and the internationally acclaimed citizen-science programme Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW). CREW involves volunteers in monitoring and conserving South Africa’s threatened plants and contributes very valuable data to land management strategies.   

Through our KZN Coastal Branch, we also support the KZN-based Stewardship Programme, which brings important areas of privately-owned land under biodiversity conservation. This programme was, for example, instrumental in the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund identifying the Maputaland-Albany Centre of Endemism as a critical biodiversity hotspot.  

From our initial roots in the founding of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, BotSoc continues to branch out across South Africa as new national botanical gardens are established, public interest in plants grow and BotSoc supports new conservation projects. Equipped with a new look and the re-establishment of the Conservation Unit, BotSoc works to know, grow, protect and enjoy our beloved indigenous plants well into the future. 

Today we have active branches nationwide, all run by dedicated volunteer committees. Each branch has its own unique local character, history and range of conservation, environmental education and fundraising activities. BotSoc branches are the lifeblood of our organisation. The spirit of volunteering remains at our heart and we encourage all members to get involved in plant conservation wherever possible.  

BotSoc celebrates 110 years of plant conservation, to become one of the oldest and most established environmental organisations in South Africa. And while BotSoc was initially established to support national botanical gardens, its role has now grown beyond the borders of these gardens, to also undertake conservation through innovative projects, while education has also become a focus area. For the BotSoc family, this proves to be a time to not only look back at the strides made, but also to look forward – with the fight to protect our indigenous plants far from over. In fact, currently the need has never been greater to protect South Africa’s plants – and this work can only be undertaken by BotSoc’s loyal and incredible members, through the hard-working branches.