Elon’s Botanical Garden recently earned a Level II Accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum.
Elon University’s botanical garden has been awarded a Level II Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum for achieving particular standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens.
The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta/botanical gardens at various levels of development, capacity, and professionalism. Elon’s botanical garden is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.
Elon was designated a botanical garden in 2004, and the arboretum is a part of this botanical garden. Of the 622 acres on campus, 323 acres are maintained by Elon’s arborists, accounting for over 5,800 trees, including 78 different Genus of trees and 182 different Species.
The botanical garden is planned and maintained as an educational, environmental, and aesthetic resource to benefit the Elon University community and visitors. Educational aspects include display gardens and collections, the Elon Forest, and the Environmental Educational Center at Loy Farm. Along with the numerous gardens tucked in and around buildings the campus landscape features a Campus Tree Trail.
About ArbNet
ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help arboreta meet their institutional goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. The accreditation program, sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois in cooperation with American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based on a set of professional standards. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of various degrees of development, capacity and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance, public access, programming and tree science, planting and conservation. More information is available at www.arbnet.org.