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| The Boreal Forest Garden |
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A TRN-LandLab 2005 Chelsea Flower Show Exhibit, May 2005
Download the official Boreal Forest Garden NTFP Factsheet
Success!
TRN partnered with LandLab Ltd, a TRN Participant Organization, to raise awareness about sustainable use of the world's boreal forest at the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show in London, England, May 23 - 28. The Show attracts high profile people such as members of the Royal Family and assorted celebrities such as actors, musicians and TV personalities. It also generates huge media coverage and draws up to 34,000 visitors per day for five days. We went to Chelsea to access the media and to talk to thousands of people about the boreal.
TRN chose to focus on the value of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). To this end, we produced an NTFP Factsheet for distribution at the Show and supported three Invited Guests from across the boreal to come to Chelsea and introduce the public to how their respective communities use the boreal forest, and why sustainable forest use is so important to their lives.
Between 2 and 8 million people!
TRN achieved its goal by capitalizing on media opportunities and public outreach while at the 2005 Chelsea Flower Show.
The team of people assigned to educating garden visitors agreed that we individually talked to at least 200-300 people per day, for five days. At any given time there was at least three representatives available to speak to visitors. Therefore, we estimate between 3000 and 4500 people were directly educated about the boreal, and received information materials while supplies lasted (i.e. the TRN NTFP Factsheet, TRN and LandLab business cards with the project URL printed on it, a four-page booklet on the Siberian taiga by Alexei Zhukov, and an information brochure regarding Ric and Rose’s NTFP work in Saskatchewan).
The majority of press coverage opportunities were concentrated on the first official day of the Show (i.e. May 23), though other opportunities were capitalized on during the days of May 21 and 22 and throughout the remainder of the Show. The project received notoriety through television, newspaper, magazine, radio and Internet media as well as the official 2005 Chelsea Flower Show booklet.
Television
Invited Guest Alexei Zhukov participated in a 2-hour interview with a Russian television crew for the “Cultural Channel.” The interview was conducted entirely in Russian for a Russian-speaking audience. Alexei spoke of the purpose of the Boreal Forest Garden and the people involved (e.g. TRN) and his struggles on Sakhalin Island to create a sustainable NTFP economy.
Invited Guests Ric and Rose Richardson of northern Saskatchewan, Canada, were interviewed by BBC television at the Garden site in the morning of May 27th. Ric explained in depth the Métis traditional uses of three plants in the Garden and Rose performed her welcome song, which is a drum and singing tune. An edited clip of the interview aired on BBC television at about 8 pm that night, and reached an audience somewhere between 2 and 8 million people.
Ric Richardson was interviewed by CBC Saskatchewan for a television and radio airing. The purpose was mainly for radio – see Radio section below for more information.
The BBC interviewed John Kennedy, Garden designer. This interview aired on BBC television on Thursday May 26th, at about 8 pm. The whole Boreal Forest Garden slot lastest about 15 minutes and discussed boreal forest issues, people involed as well as the garden design. This interview reached an audience somewhere between 2 and 8 million people.
Newspaper
Various London-based newspapers published text about the Boreal Forest Garden both before and during the exhibition. The Toronto Star and Saskatchewan Sage also ran preparatory articles about the project. The following is a list of newspapers that mentioned something about the Garden at least once:
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Daily Telegraph 16-page CFS Souvenir Edition (UK)
Saskatchewan Sage (Canada)
The Times (UK)
Toronto Star (Canada)
Click the links below to see examples of newspaper coverage, from online sources:
The Daily Telegraph - "Native Sense"
The Daily Telegraph - "Sophie helps an old soldier dream of Blighty"
The Times - "But what does it mean?"
Magazine
Boreal Forest Garden text was detected in one UK magazine: Country Life. Please see Appendix 5 for two online clippings from this magazine, which are exact copies of the hardcopy versions. Furthermore, on June 13, Damien was asked to email pictures and text for an article in the Italian magazine “Giardinaggio,” published by Il Sole 24 Ore.
As a final note, at the time of this report Alexei Zhukov reported that three Russian magazines have expressed an interest to publish articles written by him about the Boreal Forest Garden.
Radio
Ric Richardson was interviewed by CBC Saskatchewan (i.e. the Canadian  Broadcasting Corporation, a Canadian equivalent to the BBC) for a program called ‘Morning Edition.’ This telephone interview took place on May 25th, and was aired on CBC Saskatchewan radio and television later that day. An audio file of the interview was available for download from the CBC Morning Edition webpage for seven days. Pictures of the Garden were emailed to CBC the day before, which were used as a backdrop for the television airing, and remained on the CBC website.
There was a local Sakhalin Island radio programme on Alexei Zhukov’s appearance at the Show. However, Alexei did not know about it until he returned home and friends informed him of it. No one had interviewed or spoken to Alexei himself while at the Show.
Internet coverage
Various websites posted text about this project:
Royal Horticultural Society
BBC Gardening
Saskatchewan Connections
Gardenvisit.com
LandLab Ltd.
BREN Newsletter (PDF)
UNDP list-serve (May 6, 2005)
[MPWG] NWFP-Digest
The Boreal Forest Garden project has definitely raised awareness about the boreal forest in a very large and new audience-forum primarily within the UK, but also in Russia, western European countries (e.g. Italy, Sweden, etc.) and North America. It was awarded a silver medal for its design, which will definitely help spread the message. Between 2 and 8 million people viewed two separate BBC interview broadcasts within the UK, and our message of boreal sustainability has surely reached thousands more through printed/web media coverage.
Contact
John Kennedy, LandLab, john @ landlab.co.uk
Damien Lee, TRN, info @ taigarescue.org
PRESS RELEASES
More Links
LandLab Landscape Architects
NTFP Factsheet (0.4 Mb, PDF)
Facts on NTFPs
Our Listing on the official Cheslea Flower Show website
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