GEORGE TOWN, Dec 20 — Penang will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on the preservation of the Penang Botanic Gardens.

Penang exco Jagdeep Singh Deo, who recently visited the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and the Kew Gardens in London, said this will be the second collaboration with an international botanic garden on ways to preserve and improve the Penang Botanic Garden. 

“I visited the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh and they have agreed to sign an MOU with Penang,” he told reporters after a mock cheque presentation at St Paul’s Church today.

He said this is in line with the state’s intention to have the botanic garden listed as a heritage site.

“We tabled the Penang State Park (Botanic) Corporation Enactment 2017 last year to look at ways at preserving the garden for it to be listed as a heritage botanical garden so this collaboration will help us move in this direction,” he said.

Earlier this year, Penang also signed an MOU with the Singapore Botanic Gardens to share technological know-how on horticulture, garden management, conservation and research. 

Jagdeep said the state is also looking at a different type of collaboration with Kew Gardens.

“We have requested them to come to Malaysia, Penang in particular, to train horticulturists here,” he said.

He said Kew Gardens has agreed in principle to look into granting scholarships for Malaysians, and not only Penang residents, to train them in horticulture and botany. 

“Kew is the only garden that can issue and certify botanists and horticulturalists,” he said.

He said those who studied in Kew can get degrees in horticulture and can become qualified horticulturists.

“So, we have requested that they to come to Malaysia, if not Penang, to Kepong which has the biggest site specimens to train horticulturists,” he said.

He said there is a high turnover rate of workers at the botanic gardens here and a lack of experts.

“That causes a big problem in managing the gardens, we have to train our staffs and this is why we plan to collaborate with Kew to see if they can offer short, medium to long-term courses,” he said.

He hoped Kew Gardens will agree to Penang’s proposal so that Malaysia can produce more qualified botanists and horticulturists.