History
The Botanical Society of South Africa was established in 1913, the same
year that the now world famous Kirstenbosch Garden National Botanical
Garden was started. The land for the garden was granted by the
Government on condition that an appropriate organization was formed from
civil society to support its development. The Botanical Society
continues to faithfully fulfill this agreement and since has extended
this support to the other eight National Botanical Gardens around the
South Africa.
The society also became involved in flora conservation
and education. The first issue of the society’s journal came out under
the name of the Journal of the Botanical Society in 1914 and changed to
the quarterly new look Veld & Flora in 1975. The journal carries a wide
variety of articles on the National Botanical Gardens, indigenous
gardening, flora conservation, natural history and society news. The
first Flora Conservation Committee was established in 1939 but the
Society had always been involved in conservation. One of the early
achievements (1922) was the successful lobby for the upper slopes of the
mountain above Kirstenbosch to be declared a nature reserve. The
conservation effort of the Society focuses on in situ plant conservation
and is achieved through awareness campaigns, projects, monitoring and
lobbying. In the late 1970’s the Flora Conservation Committee decided to
undertake the publication of regional field guides as part of the
Society’s mission of educating the public. The first was produced in
1981 and to date eleven publications have been produced with sales
exceeding the 100 000 mark.