Carlos Magdalena is on a mission to save the plants. From his base at Kew Gardens, he travels the world to rescue tropical species from extinction. The botanical horticulturalist talks to James Lloyd
I grew up in northwest Spain, in a region called Asturias on the Bay of Biscay. This is an incredibly biodiverse place, with the largest patch of primary deciduous forest in Europe, plus populations of wolves and brown bears! But it was also becoming one of the most industrialised areas in Spain. Within 30km, I could go from a lush, green world to a place of total destruction. I was fascinated by this contrast from an early age.
How did you end up working at Kew?
I didn’t have any formal qualifications in horticulture, but I managed to secure an internship in the Tropical Nursery. I enrolled on the three-year Kew Diploma in 2003, and over the next few years I began to earn a reputation for saving endangered tropical plants.
The ‘Plant Messiah’ nickname was given to me by a journalist in Spain, who obviously thought that I looked a bit like Jesus! But don’t worry, I don’t actually have a Messiah complex…
How do you actually go about saving a plant from extinction?
この記事は BBC Earth の September 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は BBC Earth の September 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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