Botanical Museum - Gallery Exhibition

Exhibit by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

Gallery of the Botanical Museum
Berlin-Dahlem
5th of June Juni through 14th of September 2008

The Botanical Museum of Berlin and the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) are staging between 5 June and 14 September, at the Museum’s main site, the exhibition Brazilian Nature – Mystery and Destiny.

Taking as its starting point the botanist Carl Philipp von Martius and the work, by him and his collaborators, Flora brasiliensis – to-date the most complete survey of Brazilian flora – the exhibition shows the work of scientists who, following in the footsteps of Martius, endeavor to reveal the natural wealth of Brazil. Objective: to know in order to preserve.

The country, after all, is home to the greatest biological diversity on the planet, between 15 and 20 per cent of the total number of known species. This is explained by the fact that Brazil occupies an area of 8.5 million square kilometers, with different types of relief and climate, and consequently of vegetation, allied to eight thousand kilometers of coastline and a network of hydrographic basins formed by immense rivers.

The 37 panels of the display cover three main activities of scientists, supported by FAPESP.