A broad avenue lined with date palms, Botanic Gardens, Sóller.

The cactus hildewintera aureispina cristata in bloom in the Botanic Gardens, Sóller.

Euphorbia in the foreground and the garden’s iconic date palms in the background.

Cacti in bloom in the Botanic Gardens, Sóller.

The seeds of the prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus macrocarpa).

Seeds from the Femeniasia balearica, a member of the daisy family, and classified as critically endangered.

The Botanic Garden’s greenhouse.

Seeds are gathered from the prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus macrocarpa).

Seeds are gathered from the prickly juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus macrocarpa).

The main goal of the Botanic Gardens is conservation and many species are being saved from total extinction.

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With shaded paths, soaring palms, and prickly cacti, Sóller’s lush Botanic Gardens is a delight. But it is so much more than a pleasant day out. Thanks to the endeavours of a dedicated team of botanists and biologists, a seed bank is being developed which will ensure the survival of Mallorca’s native plants

In the gap between houses on a Menorca street the developer sees a prime location, a plot ripe with financial possibility. But a botanist sees a rare evergreen shrub of the Buckthorn family called Rhamnus ludovici-salvatoris, named for the Austrian archduke Louis Salvador. It is the last surviving group of such plants to remain on the whole island, huddled here on one of the undeveloped plots.

On Mallorca, meanwhile, a rare orchid called Orchis robusta, found only on the island and in North Africa, is set to be sacrificed so a golf course can be built.  Of the 50 most endangered plant species growing on Mediterranean islands, eight are on the Balearics. There’s a rare carnation under threat from trampling hikers, and a member of the celery family, of which less than 100 examples remain is threatened by wild goats and wild fires. For those already classified as extinct in the wild, the only hope is that someone, somewhere, has preserved seeds.

Fortunately there is. The somewhere is Sóller’s beautiful Botanic Gardens, and the someone is Josep Lluis Gradaille Tortella and his dedicated team of biologists and botanists.

The gardens are laid out over a hectare of land on either side of a broad avenue lined with tall, slender date palms which have become Sóller landmarks in their own right. Their crowns of sharp blue-green fronds frame a fine view of the mighty Puig Major mountain, Mallorca’s highest peak.

“The tallest is the the female one,” says Josep. “At 26 metres, it’s the tallest in the Sóller valley.” The Phoenix dactylifera, to give this date palm its botanical name, can grow as high as 30 metres, he explains.

The first areas of the gardens to greet the visitor are laid out around the early 20th-century villa of the original estate, now the Natural Science Museum, and also well worth a visit. This part of the garden is devoted to Balearic flora, chiefly wild flowers distributed over five well-defined areas. For example, there are plants that thrive on cool, shady mountain sides and in the beds of Mallorca’s unpredictable streams, or torrents, such as Vitex agnus castus (Chasteberry), so named becuase the Greeks thought the plant calmed sexual passion.

Up some steps, there’s another zone given over to plants from rocky sea cliffs and coastal areas. And there are areas for high-mountain plants, beach flora and the plants of the evergreen oak forests. Then there’s a zone set aside for endangered species, such as the herb Thymus herba-barona, or carroway thyme. The only known population has approximately 160 individuals, occupying an area of less than 1000m2. It is being monitored  and is the subject of a recovery plan at the Botanic Gardens.

“The main threat to our plants is the change in land use,” says Josep. “Housing developments are built. Then services such as roads have to be built. Or traditional farming on the mountains is abandoned giving rise to huge populations of wild goats, who devour everything in their path. Then there are forest fires, some intentionally started to clear land for speculation.

“We have two strategies–conservation in situ and conservation ex situ,” he reveals. “That is, when we hear of an endangered species we’ll go to the area and study the factors that are causing the problem and come up with a conservation plan. We might conclude that the solution is to bring in more seeds, reinforcements if you like, and repopulate the area.

“Of course, sometimes this isn’t possible. If a golf course is being developed, then the destruction of the habitat will be total. In this case, transplanting the species to a safer haven is the solution. It’s hard to stop a golf course and at this point I’d be happy if golf-course developers would just pay the costs of transplanting the species under threat.”

Even though destroying a habitat or wiping out an endangered species is illegal, Josep suspects the sanctions are too light to discourage developers.

“The orchid, Orchis robusta, exists in just three places in the whole world–in Morocco, Algeria and Mallorca. But they’re going to build a golf course right on its habitat in Alcúdia.”

But all is not lost, even when a plant goes extinct in the wild. “If a plant species has totally died out we can also reintroduce it,” he says. So, while the gardens are a splendid place to stroll, they are so much more. “Here, we’ve got a collection of living plants, which you can see and enjoy but, crucially, we have a seed bank as well.”

The seed bank holds samples of native Balearic plants at temperatures of -18ºC. There’s also a herbarium, where dried plants are pressed and systematically filed, then kept in a low-humidity and sterile environment, and there’s a laboratory where research in conservation biology is carried out.

“There was a real need for a garden aimed at conservation, faced as we were with such severe demographic pressure and the pressure from mass tourism,” says Josep.

The garden was his idea and a labour of love from the outset. Sóller’s town hall bought the finca from the Sa Nostra bank on very favourable terms in 1985 to set up the Natural Science Museum and Botanic Gardens, and Josep spent his spare time clearing the land and laying out the gardens. In 1997 the gardens broke away from the Natural Science Museum to set up the Botanic Garden Foundation. “Though we share the grounds with the museum and ticket desk, we had to establish ourselves as a separate entity so we could apply for grants and in order to join the nationwide botanic gardens association.”

Looking back, Josep explains: “It cost a lot to start up but it costs even more to maintain.”

“There aren’t many gardeners in Mallorca. And the few who are here on the island are working in the gardens of wealthy residents. There isn’t a garden culture here like there is in Andalucía, Madrid or Catalunya, where the gardener feels that his is a noble profession. In Mallorca there has always been the idea that you go into gardening if you can’t do anything else. But historically, gardeners have often been as important and as renowned as architects.”

Educating the public so they can be responsible gardeners is another of the garden’s goals. “One of the threats comes from invasive non-native plants. People get plants for their gardens from, say, South Africa, and they soon threaten our native species.”

A Mediterranean garden can thrive and be lush all year round if people plant wisely, using plants which have adapted over millions of years to the climate rather than bringing in thirsty plants from more temperate regions.

The public can get more involved thanks to a new programme for collaborating members. For a small annual fee, friends of the gardens will be able to visit whenever they like, attend courses, workshops, and go on trips as well as enjoy access to the seed bank and, in short, help maintain Mallorca’s biodiversity.

Humans might be the biggest threat to Balearic flora. But, with a bit of effort, we can also do much to save it.

For more information on becoming a Collaborating Member of Sóller Botanic Garden just get in touch.
When:	Tue-Sat: 10am-6pm. Sun and hol: 10am-2pm. Mon closed.
Where:	Sóller: Ctra Palma – Puerto Sóller, km 30.
Phone:	971 634 014
Price:	€5
Web:	www.jardibotanicdesoller.org	Where