CV Portfolio Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

CV Portfolio - Personal Statement Example My resultant aptitude towards the applied sciences leads to the development of certain core skills 1 with notable strengths in the Academic and Self Management Areas while my Communication and Interpersonal skills leave much to be desired. My structured thinking and "fluid" learning abilities allow me to research, accumulate, synthesize, analyze, organize, and interpret large amounts of information, information which once coupled with my problem solving and organizational abilities allows me to creatively and innovatively resolve most or all forthcoming challenges. My major weakness, probably due to my somewhat introvert character, lies in my weakness to actively communicate and effectively interact with my immediate and not so immediate surroundings. I am well versed in written communication and the use of information and IT systems tools and services, but am at a disadvantage when it comes to associating with co workers and students, and presenting orally my thoughts and conviction s. Although I am fluent in several languages and do adapt quickly, this ability to change and move from my comfort zone can only be done on an individual or personal basis; I should have great difficulty in adapting as part of a team and I believe that my presence in a team would impede the performance of the said team. This apparently has to do with my perceived introversion and my individualistic "Apollonian" nature; since "No Man is an Island" this has to be dealt with if I am to be successful in any future endeavors. My background, influencers and resultant core skills point me in the direction of the Pure and Applied sciences in general, and the field of engineering in particular. I believe that my strong abilities in the areas of mathematics and physics as well as my ease of learning and strong problem solving skills will allow me to become one of the top performers in this field, specifically Communications Engineering. I am not sure that I would call this an aspiration. I guess my aspirations have to do more with making a descent living and have enough time on the side to be able to do the things I've never done: Play sports, learn music, adventurous travel, write, indulge in good cuisines and fine wines, and generally fill my life's portrait with vivid colors instead of shades of gray. My basic strategy is to use my existing aptitudes as a tool, a medium and a catalyst to increase and maintain at an acceptable level my standard of living in order to enrich that part of me that has seemingly been ignored these past years: My "Dionysian" Self. I firmly believe that the above strategy will allow me to develop fully as a person and lead a balanced and full life, and to maintain through continuous development an impressive and excellent career, while simultaneously leading a full and happy life unaffected by the dreary grayness of today's mechanized world. KENNY'S SKILL ASSESSMENT FORM 5 = Fully proficient; 4 = Very Comfortable; 3 = Average/OK; 2 =Needs

A Framework for the Management of Oil Spillage Risks in Oil Dissertation - 1

A Framework for the Management of Oil Spillage Risks in Oil Exploration Programmes - Dissertation Example The aim of this paper is to develop a framework that will help the companies in order to control their oil spillage risks in oil exploration programs.  The objectives will be to investigate the nature of oil spillage risks; identify and summarize the existing understanding about oil spillage risk management; discover good practices in managing oil spillage risks and to provide a new framework that summarizes the findings and can be used further for managing oil spillage risks. Besides this, the paper has also focused on different methods used to manage the risk of oil spillage.  The oil industry is concerned with a long history of spills on the North Slope and the probability of future spills is high. Indeed, there has been an oil spillage once a day, on average, from the time when gas and oil development began on the North Slope. In order to make the subject worse, ocean currents move the chemicals and oil hundreds of miles. Further, in the Arctic Ocean, cleaning up oil spills w ould lead to enormous challenges. Suppression and recovery at sea hardly ever leads to the removal of more than a comparatively small fraction of a large oil spill, i.e. only 10-15% and often significantly less. Till date, no technology subsists in order to clean up oil in the sea ice circumstances and late-season spills would stay behind until the following year.  Oil spillage refers to an unintentional release of oil in a water body due to human activity and is regarded as form of pollution.  

The context of international business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The context of international business - Essay Example The company was founded by Jack Cohen in the year 1919, the number of stores as on April 2012 happens to be 6,351 stores. (Burgemeister, 2003, p. 192). The total revenue of the company happens to be ?64.539 billion as on 2012. The total market share in U.K. is 30.2%. The major global competitors of the company are Walmart, Carrefour, Aldi, Royal Ahold and Metro. Identifying the company’s main drivers of accessing foreign markets using theories of FDI FDI stands for foreign direct investment. There are various theories of FDI like the product life cycle theory, internationalization and eclectic paradigm theory of the OLI frame-work. Among these the internationalization theory has been used to identify the key drives. The internationalization theory states that a company operating in a matured economy needs to expand the horizon beyond the local market to get competitive advantage and economies of scale. In the early 90s Tesco was lagging behind Sainsbury’s as the second largest retailer in the country and the operations of the country was subjected to the U.K. market only. But the global economic reforms couples with the drive to become a global major retailer urged Tesco to enter the global market. The first phase of internationalization begun as Tesco entered Hungary in 1994. Since then there has been no turning back, Of-course there has been certain problems in countries like France, but looking at the overall perspective the results speak for themselves. Today Tesco is largest retailer in U.K. and the third largest retailer in the world right after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Mainly Tesco is a general merchandise and grocery retailer and operates as following the business to consumer framework. External Environment Analysis External or macro environmental factors are those that cannot be controlled by an organization and yet the modus operand of an organization gets severely affected by the changes or developments in the external environment. The m ain external environmental factors include political, economic, social and technological factors. However, the legal factors are also to be included. Bit, since most of the legal legislatures in a country are developed by the government itself the legal factors are hereby included in the political factors. Here it is to be added that Tesco entered in U.S. in the year 2007. Therefore the PEST analysis has been based on the external environmental situation in 2007 -2008 only (Henry, 2008, p. 89). Political United States has always been a politically stable country. And the governments in U.S. have always welcomed business investments from both local and international firms. Many specialists have tagged U.S. as a very stable political country irrespective of the political regime. Probably due to such attitude of the political leaders of the country the country has become one of the strongest economies in the world. As mentioned earlier as far the legislative system goes the country as mentioned has a business friendly legal environment welcoming investments. Legal and Regulatory reforms in the 1970s actually resulted in de-regulation in various sectors and enhanced competition and efficiency.

Politics&Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Politics&Society - Essay Example Historically, the father was the breadwinner and the primary responsibility of the mother or wife was ensuring that the domestic chores, as well as the domestic welfare of the husband and children were taken care of. With the introduction of new legislations and modern trends the position of that idea of family has been threatened, replacing it with different types of family structures. The gender role was intertwined with the different responsibility of the adult members. The father was seen as the aggressive member, expecting to hold certain jobs, while the woman was thought to be more submissive and docile. With numerous discoveries in science and technology and the improvement in modern medicine, the occurrence of extended families has become prevalent in many societies. Some writers contend that extended families are more common in agricultural societies than in urban situations (Sussman, Steinmetz and Peterson 99). There were some legal reforms in the 1960’s that led to greater diversity in family structures. In the United States for example, divorce was based on fault for a greater part of the twentieth century. In 1969, the state of California enacted The California Family Law Act which made it possible for couples to divorce based on irreconcilable differences. This eventually became possible in other states as well. The 1969 Divorce Reform Act of England also allowed for couples to divorce on a no fault basis. Although divorce is handled by religious institutions in many societies the legislative reforms in industrialized countries make it very easy for men and women to end their marriages. Compared to the beginning of the twentieth century divorce has become very popular. Currently, about fifty percent of all first marriages in the United States end in divorce (Erera 136). The sharp rise in divorce rates coincided with the legal reforms in the 1960s. This led to a transformation of marriages as well as families. These

Non verbal communication Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Non verbal communication - Term Paper Example appearance. In this technique, I would just wear the clothes of cultures different from my own and see how this affects my experience of communication in a multicultural setting. In this paper, I have shared the results and have discussed in which experiments, this technique enhanced my ability to communicate across cultures and why. Rationale Today, we live in an increasingly multicultural and globalized world. Every day, we get to meet and socialize with people from backgrounds of many cultural varieties. Lack of foreign languages certainly hinders our ability to communicate across cultures. But at the same time, the importance of social networking across cultures in the contemporary age cannot be overstated. Be it school, office, or a restaurant, we have to encounter and communicate with people from other cultures and retreating from this is simply not an option. While verbal communication in the inter-cultural setting has been a much studied subject, the non-verbal communication in an inter-cultural setting remains a passive subject of research although it is no less important than the verbal communication. ... The researchers found that the research participants were more likely to identify the pictures of smiling people who were of their own ethnicity as compared to the pictures of people from other ethnicities. â€Å"People tend to favor a member of the in-group over an out-group member when distributing positive outcomes such as rewards to others†. 1 It so happens because of the fact that â€Å"[c]ulture strongly influences, and in many cases determines, our interpretations†.2 The famous Indian political leader Jawaharlal Nehru also emphasized upon developing an understanding of different cultures to be able to communicate better across cultures. â€Å"If we seek to understand a people, we have to try to put ourselves, as far as we can, in that particular historical and cultural background†¦If we wish to convince them, we have to use their language as far as we can, not language in the narrow sense of the word, but the language of the mind. That is one necessity† (Nehru cited in3). Adler states that there are certain non-verbal behaviors that can facilitate the conveyance of meaning between two or more people from different cultural backgrounds that include visual restatements, gestures, demonstration, pauses, and summaries. Description of my experiments For this research, I conducted three experiments in total in three different settings, one of which was a school, the other was a clothes’ shop, and the third was a wedding ceremony. One thing that was common between them was that all three were multicultural settings. Experiment 1 I conducted this experiment in my school on an event when students were allowed to dress up in the outfits of their

What matters most to you, and why Essay Example for Free

What matters most to you, and why Essay Creating is what matters most to me: developing new ideas, moving a network to reach a goal, and implementing and supporting them for the long term. The search for happiness has always been my main objective, while pursuing entrepreneurial projects has been my principal activity, and at the same time satisfies me. All throughout my life, I have found myself constantly seeking and developing new projects in the most different contexts from finding a broadband company in the North East of Italy to writing a script to express my views on life and humanity; and from restructuring an Investment Banking standard to repositioning a wine brand. Since childhood, I was exposed to the capabilities of mens will to create the opportunity to see throughout the members of one’ own family, including the development of a village in Mexico, Costa Careyes, and the improvements to Genoas main infrastructures, with the inclusion of creating new museums and art galleries across Europe. Viewing these and other enterprises made me understand how an entrepreneurial project can positively impact both the person engaging in these projects and its surrounding community. Today, I strongly believe in the contribution to society delivered from new ideas and from fulfilling the experience of leading such into successful enterprises. Two of the projects from which I have gathered greater satisfaction have been the creation of Iccom and the development of the wine fair, â€Å"Vino a Corte†. Over time, I have developed a strong fascination for technology as a way to positively redefine the peoples approach of day to day issues by using often low initial capital. This fascination led me to create a company, the Iccom (www. iccom. t), offering broadband connectivity via microwave and free space optics. In June 2007, I prepared some materials for an IPO meeting with the Wi-Max Company. As a former computer engineering student, I had a particular interest in the subject and have researched the advances in this technology in Italy. I found out that the space was still poorly covered despite the need for such technology in north-east of Italy, where there are many companies with remote locations that are not reached by fiber optic cables. It seemed like an exciting niche to explore, so I started looking for partners who engaged in such project. I got in touch with one of those interested in my project, Nicola, a Ph. D. researcher from Politecnico, Torino through an alumnus of my university. Together, we approached the major entrepreneurial families in the Piedmont area. We found out that the owner of the facility management company, Manital, was interested in investing in our initiative. I considered that such a founding structure would enable Iccom to leverage off the diverse background of each one of us, even myself, with a strong national and international network. We had strong technical expertise through Nicola, and there was the owner of Manital, Federico, who had the local expertise and network. In August, all our hard work paid off for we officially founded the company. The very light and scalable structure we created had the possibility of doing most of the work in-house because of the enthusiasm of the interns and the Politecnico, Torino’s facilities. These should enable Iccom to position itself as a high impact company in the Piedmont business community. Another fulfilling experience that had a key role in forming my view, occurred while volunteering for the organization of the fair, â€Å"Vino a Corte† in the Spring of 2005. Mondo, a non-profit organization, supported by the Province of Alessandria (Italy), organizes a fair every year to promote small and medium wine producers in the province. At the time, I was in charge of taking care of the Castello di Gabiano wine and was asked to lead the logistic aspects of the event. My work lasted for about two months. The work focused on the contacting of wine producers in the area to obtain their availability, including the search for a location and the set-up coordination. `The fair was held in May, and turned out to be a great success. The strong press coverage, the quality of the 30 wine producers participating, and having the location in a private garden of a medieval castle, led 10,000 visitors to attend the two day event. Overall, the fair enabled small wine producers with low possibilities, to market their wine and gain a valuable visibility. From the feedback I have received, this visibility is still supporting their business as of today. These and other successful and unsuccessful experiences have made me experience firsthand the social benefits of creating, both in a business context than and in a personal note. What matters most to me is the intimate joy obtained while giving birth to a new idea, the commitment and the passion that I have embodied to them, and most especially, the satisfaction of seeing them effectively deployed.

Botanical Garden Importance Essay

Botanical Garden Importance Essay The topic for this essay is the role of botanical gardens in plant conservation. The essay will be divided into four main parts. The first part discuss about the botanical garden. This part will include the introduction, history and development, network and function of botanical garden. Second part will explain the importance of plant conservation and the global strategy for plant conservation. The third part is the role of botanical garden in plant conservation. The fourth part will be the example of botanical garden in Malaysia and its roles in plant conservation. The last part will be the conclusion of the essay. 2.0 Botanical Gardens 2.1 Introduction Botanical gardens or botanic gardens are generally well-tended parks displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. They may contain specialist plant collections such as cacti and succulent plants, herb gardens, plants from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants or other exotic plants. Botanical gardens are often run by universities or other scientific research organizations and often have associated herbaria and research programmes in plant taxonomy or some other aspect of botanical science. In principle their role is to maintain documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education, although this will depend on the resources available and the special interests pursued at each particular garden. 2.2 History and Development The origin of modern botanical gardens can be traced to European medieval medicinal gardens known as physic gardens, the first of these being founded during the Italian Renaissance in the 16th century. This early concern with medicinal plants changed in the 17th century to an interest in the new plant imports from explorations outside Europe as botany gradually established its independence from medicine. In the 18th century systems of nomenclature and classification were devised by botanists working in the herbaria and universities associated with the gardens, these systems often being displayed in the gardens as educational order beds. With the rapid rise of European imperialism in the late 18th century botanic gardens were established in the tropics and economic botany became a focus with the hub at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London. Over the years botanical gardens, as cultural and scientific organisations, have responded to the interests of botany and horticulture. Nowadays most botanical gardens display a mix of the themes mentioned and more: having a strong connection with the general public there is the opportunity to provide visitors with information relating to the environmental issues being faced at the start of the 21st century, especially those relating to plant conservation and sustainability. 2.3 Network Worldwide there are now about 1800 botanical gardens and arboreta in about 150 countries (mostly in temperate regions) of which about 400 are in Europe, 200 in North America, 150 in Russia and an increasing number in East Asia. These gardens attract about 150 million visitors a year so it is hardly surprising that many people gained their first exciting introduction to the wonders of the plant world in a botanical garden. Historically, botanical gardens exchanged plants through the publication of seed lists. This was a means of transferring both plants and information between botanical gardens. This system continues today although the possibility of genetic piracy and the transmission of invasive species have received greater attention in recent times. The International Association of Botanic Gardens was formed in 1954 as a worldwide organisation affiliated to the International Union of Biological Sciences. More recently coordination has also been provided by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) which has the mission To mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet. BGCI has over 700 members- mostly botanic gardens- in 118 countries and strongly supports the Global strategy for plant conservation by producing a range resources and publications, and by organizing international conferences and conservation programs. Communication also happens regionally. In the United States there is the American Public Gardens Association and in Australasia there is the Botanic Gardens of Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ). 2.4 Role and Function Botanic gardens have had a changing role throughout history, beginning often as medicinal gardens for the study and cultivation of plants with healing properties and going through many phases including of course as pleasure gardens. But the fact that their collections are more or less scientific means they are continually adapting and serving the needs of their societies in evolving ways as new challenges face those societies. In current times, they are becoming key players in both the conservation of plants and in the education of the people who come to see them. They are also starting to play a role in the mitigation of the effects of climate change, and could be absolutely vital to the survival of the planet as they are perfectly placed to help move species around and help ecosystems to adapt to new climates in different regions. 3.0 Plant conservation 3.1 Importance Plants are universally recognized as a vital part of the worlds biological diversity and an essential resource for the planet. In addition to the small number of crop plants used for basic food and fibres, many thousands of wild plants have great economic and cultural importance and potential, providing food, medicine, fuel, clothing and shelter for vast numbers of people throughout the world. Plants also play a key role in maintaining the planets basic environmental balance and ecosystem stability, and provide an important component to the habitats for the worlds animal life. At present we do not have a complete inventory of the plants of the world, but it is estimated that the total number may be in the order of 300,000 species. Many of these species are in danger of extinction, threatened by habitat transformation, over-exploitation, alien invasive species, pollution and climate change. The disappearance of such vital and large amounts of biodiversity poses one of the greatest challenges for the world community: to halt the destruction of the plant diversity that is so essential to meet the present and future needs of humankind. Plant conservation, long the poor relation of the conservation world, has started to come into its own since the rise of conservation biology as a recognized discipline in the 1980s. Plant conservation, and the heritage value of exceptional historic landscapes, was treated with a growing sense of urgency. Specialist gardens were sometimes given a separate or adjoining site, to display native and indigenous plants. 3.2 Off-site plant conservation Off-site conservation is the conservation of plants away from their areas of natural occurrence. The term ex situ is frequently used to describe the off-site conservation. Off-site conservation not only include growing the plants in botanic gardens, the concept extends as well to field gene banks, clonal collections, and germ plasma banks where propagating tissues and seeds are preserved for growing in the future. Off-site conservation can involve a range of plant parts-the whole plant, seed, other tissues, or genetic material in culture. Whole, living plants have particular value for conservation and will continue to be a major concern of off-site conservation. But conserving whole plants is not simple. To capture the range of genetic variation, such collections require large number of plants; these are expensive to establish and maintain. If the plants are annuals, they will require seasonal replication. Outside their natural habitat some plants may require hand pollination and special treatment of fruit and seeds to ensure germination. It is fortunate that improving technology is making storage as seeds, seedlings, rhizomes, tissues in culture, and even DNA an option for many plants. 3.3 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation The entry point for the strategy is plant conservation; other aspects such as sustainable use, benefit-sharing and capacity building are also included. The Strategy provides an innovative framework for actions at global, regional, national and local levels. The strategy is supported by a wide range of organizations and institutions governments, intergovernmental organizations, conservation and research organizations (such as protected-area management boards, botanic gardens, and gene banks), universities, research institutes, nongovernmental organizations and their networks, and the private sector. The most innovative element of the Strategy is the inclusion of 16 outcome-orientated targets, aimed at achieving a series of measurable goals by 2010. 3.3.1 Objectives The ultimate and long-term objective of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation is to halt the current and continuing loss of plant diversity. The Strategy will provide framework to facilitate harmony between existing initiatives aimed at plant conservation, to identify gaps where new initiatives are required, and to promote mobilization of the necessary resources. The Strategy will be a tool to enhance the ecosystem approach to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and focus on the vital role of plants in the structure and functioning of ecological system and assure provision of the goods and services such systems provide. 4.0 Role of Botanical Gardens in Plant Conservation Botanic gardens have collectively accumulated centuries of resources and expertise that now means they play a key role in plant conservation. Many of these activities contribute to ex situHYPERLINK http://www.bgci.org/ourwork/ex_situ/ conservation, but botanic gardens also play an important role in in situHYPERLINK http://www.bgci.org/ourwork/Ecosystems/ conservation Horticulture and cultivation skills allow us to grow plants that might be lost in nature, which means their plants diversity can be conserved in the gardens, but also allows us to consider restoration and rehabilitation of degraded habitats. Living collections of plants collect species under various groupings, to maintain a living store of genetic diversity that can support many activities in conservation and research. Seed banks and collections of living plants allow species to be safeguarded. Plants must be carefully collected stored to ensure maximum genetic diversity is retained, and much research is required to determine the best way of storing each species. This is the conservation of plant diversity in situ, and botanic gardens are key to this strategys capacity and success.. Research and development into plant taxonomy and genetics, phytochemistry, useful properties, informing selection of plants that can withstand degraded and changing environments (especially important in face of the threats posed by climate change). Education is a strength of botanic gardens that allows them to communicate the importance of conserving plants, reaching out to diverse audiences, and also to communicate how this may be achieved. Linking plants with the well-being of people, and also helping conserve indigenous and local knowledge, to encourage the sustainable use of plant resources for the benefit of all, as part of sustainable development. The conservation of plant diversity is critical for sustainable development and botanic gardens are playing a key role as centres of conservation action. Gardens maintain a wide range of species as living plants, in seed banks and tissue culture; according to estimation of BGCI, there are probably over 80,000 species in cultivation in botanic gardens of the current estimate of 270,000 known plant species in the world. Botanic gardens contain collections of plants for education, scientific purposes and display; they can be: Taxonomically-based collections of a particular family, genus or group of cultivars; Collections of native plants; Plants which share a common geographical or ecological origin such as Mediterranean, desert or alpine; Wild relatives or cultivars of useful species such as medicinal, aromatic or textile plants; Shared habit or life form such as an orchard, arboretum or succulent collection. Botanic gardens also have important conservation collections particularly of rare and threatened plants. According to the IUCN Red List of threatened plants 34,000 taxa are considered globally threatened with extinction. Currently, over 10,000 threatened species, approximately a third, are in botanic garden cultivation. These plants contribute to species recovery programmes and provide long-term backup collections. Botanic gardens undertake research from plant taxonomy, ecology to breeding systems. With their expertise in horticulture, botanic gardens develop propagation and cultivation methods for plants which have never been in cultivation. All these areas are essential for species recovery programmes and reintroduction of plants into the wild, such as developing techniques to reintroduce the Dragon Trees into the wild. A major cause of biodiversity loss is the over-collection of wild plants for horticulture, medicine and food. Bringing plants into cultivation can take the pressure off the wild populations, and also support livelihoods by generating income and promote trade Botanic gardens also manage protected areas within and outside their garden to promote biodiversity. These ecosystems such as forests, bush land, catchment areas, and coastal areas provide essential services from the generation of water, cycling of nutrients and replenishment of soil fertility and prevention of erosion which are vital to the livelihoods of all people. One of the major causes of species decline is invasive alien species which threaten plants, plant communities and ecosystems. Botanic gardens with their skills in identification and horticulture monitor invasive species and work locally and nationally to restore habitats that are important for diversity. Botanic gardens work with their local communities and visitors on education and environmental conservation programmes which promote environmental awareness and sustainable living. Globally, botanic gardens receive more than 200 million visitors a year. Further, botanic gardens are key institutions working with their governments and other organisations on key policies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans. 5.0 Botanic Garden in Malaysia Rimba Ilmu 5.1 Introduction Rimba Ilmu is a tropical botanical garden, set up in the University of Malaya campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is modelled after a rain forest garden concept rather than a formal flower garden. It emphasises the flora of the Malaysian and Indonesian region. Together with the living collections of over 1,600 species, the Rimba Ilmu also houses the University of Malaya herbarium (acronym KLU) and has its own Environmental Education Programme. The Rimba Ilmu is a member of the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the South East Asia Botanic Gardens Network. Rimba Ilmu means The Forest of Knowledge in the Malay language. The garden, established in 1974, occupies an area of 80 hectares. It is partly buffered by old rubber plantings and the living collections, mostly from Malaysia, are one of the most important biological conservatories in Malaysia. There are also plant species from other parts of tropical Asia, the Pacific islands, Australia, South America, Africa and Madagascar. Rimba Ilmus mission is to generate and promote awareness and knowledge of tropical plant life and its environment, ecology and conservation through the development and management of facilities and activities appropriate to its function in a university located within Malaysias most developed and populated landscape. The Herbarium (a reference library of preserved plant specimens) is Malaysias largest university collection containing some 63,000 accessions. In the Garden, there are several main show collections, including medicinal plants, palms, and the citrus and citroid collection. The Conservatory of Rare Plants and Orchids, opened in 2000, and the Fernery, with planting establishments made over several years and commissioned in 2003, are accessible only to special group visits and research contacts, and a new bambusetum (living collection of bamboos) was completed at the end of 2003 and generally accessible to the public. There is also a small research collection of bananas. A highlight in the development of the Rimba Ilmu is the establishment of a special arboretum (living collection of trees) beginning in 2001 as the anchor for our Millenium Forest project, which seeks to engage friends and concerned parties in establishing biologically diverse forest plantings in making a new forest withi n the city of Kuala Lumpur. Besides having a general collection of species from a variety of plant families selected for teaching, Rimba Ilmu is also developing various special collections ranging from those of medicinal plants, wild orchids, palms, pandan, tropical fruit trees, gingers, aquatic plants, wild citrus relatives to rare and endangered plants in need of conservation. 5.2 Role in Plant Conservation Rimba Ilmu is an important repository for many types of plants, including conservation collections of rare and endangered plants, and special collections of the useful plants (such as citruses and starch palms) and their wild relatives. In 2001, two other special collections, bamboos (sponsored by the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute) and bananas (anchored by one of the universitys research groups in banana cytology), were also begun. Over 2004-5, with the assistance of DHL and involving their employees, a special collection of Malaysian forest trees has also been established. Outside of the Rimba Ilmu, it may be very difficult to observe so many different species of some groups, and the habitats of some of these plants may have already been altered or damaged. Conservation also involves public awareness, and visitors are first treated to a permanent exhibition on Rain Forests when they start to get familiar with the Garden. 6.0 Conclusion Botanical gardens maintain a wide range of species as living plants, in seed banks and tissue culture. Thus, botanic gardens contain collections of plants for education, scientific purposes and display. In conclusion, the botanical garden play an important role as the ex situ conservation for plant and also in situ conservation site. The conservation of plant diversity is critical for sustainable development and botanic gardens are playing a key role as centres of conservation action.