Botanical garden needs funding for upgrade

Momase

THE Lae botanical garden is in dire financial need to make it one of the iconic places in the city for research and recreational purpose, curator Michael Lovave says.
Since the Forest Authority and Forest Research Institute took lead in looking after this facility, it has faced funding hiccups which resulted in deteriorating facilities.
Lovave said on Tuesday that there was a master plan in place to re-develop the botanical garden, however, that can only become reality with enough support and funding from the Government and other stakeholders.
He said at the moment the botanical garden needed funding to maintain its facilities for the public to use for recreational, research and study purposes.
The Lae Botanic Garden Advancement Programme was developed in 2015 with aims to improve security for public use, the betterment of the garden.