In an era marked by climate change, biodiversity loss, and social and ecological disruption, what role can botanic gardens play in shaping a more hopeful, resilient world?
Join us for an online dialogue with the Executive Directors of Royal Kew Gardens in London – Richard Deverell, and Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden in Hong Kong – Wander Meijer, to share their perspectives, learnings and reflections.
These two globally respected institutions have long been at the forefront of ecological conservation, scientific research and public education. How, in these challenging modern times, are they reimagining their roles – not only as centres of biodiversity and nature restoration, but also as places for healing, inspiration and transformation?
In this dialogue, Richard and Wander explore:
- How botanic gardens are responding to the climate and ecological emergencies
- The efforts in ecological restoration and its contributions locally and globally
- The importance of beauty, wonder and deeper connection with nature
- How their gardens serve as living classrooms – and sanctuaries – for the public
- What it means to lead institutions that stand at the integration of conservation, education, science and public engagement in a changing world.
KFBG 70th Anniversary – 70 years of love for people and nature
This talk is part of a curated series of in-house dialogues created to celebrate KFBG’s 70th Anniversary. Running until the end of 2026, the series will feature lively and thought-provoking exchanges that highlight KFBG’s work in nature conservation, regenerative agriculture, sustainable living, and holistic education. These conversations provide spaces for reflection and shared learning, exploring how the legacy begun 70 years ago continues to evolve in response to today’s challenges—while staying true to its mission of fostering harmony between people and nature.
Speakers
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Richard Deverell CBE Richard started as Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2012 following 20 years at the BBC. At the BBC he spent a decade in BBC News and ran the BBC News websites before revamping the BBC’s children’s channels with a mission to raise the quality and impact of programming. He then helped to launch BBC North at Salford Quays. Since joining Kew, he has refocussed Kew’s strategy towards developing and delivering solutions to the biodiversity and climate crises. This has led to significant growth of Kew Science, the digitisation in full of Kew’s collections, expansion of post-graduate education and more prominent science and conservation narratives to visitors. He is a passionate advocate for the power of plants and fungi to help solve the critical challenges facing humanity in the 21st Century. He is an official Champion for Food Forever, a global initiative that aims to secure biodiversity for the benefit of food security around the world. He studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and is married with 3 children. |
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Wander Meijer Wander is a senior executive with over 30 years of leadership experience across businesses and NGOs in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Wander has led Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) since November 2021, where he and his team of 300 staff work on nature conservation, holistic education and sustainable living with the mission to restore harmony between humans and nature. KFBG has the vision to bring biodiversity back to Hong Kong and Asia, via nature restoration, its Native Tree Nursery and Wild Animal Rescue Centre, which has accepted more than 76,000 wild animals since it was opened in 1994. Wander also advises and invests in social enterprises, focused on poverty alleviation and agricultural transition. He mentors students on career choices and regularly speaks at schools, universities, corporations and NGOs on biodiversity and sustainability. With a master's degree in Human Geography and Economic Development, his thesis, conducted in Bolivia, explored the question: “Why are some countries rich and others poor?” This led him to pursue a lifelong enquiry into how economic systems and human behaviour can be reshaped to live within the planet’s ecological limits. |
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Facilitator
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Idy Wong Idy has been devoted to environmental conservation since the 1990s, first in the field of environmental education and gradually extending to sustainable design and community engagement. She holds a post-graduate certificate in environmental education, and master’s degrees in Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development and Buddhist Studies. She has also acquired professional training on organic certification, permaculture design and ecovillage design education along the path to navigate global challenges in connection with regeneration and transformation. Idy played an active role in environmental education development of WWF Hong Kong and the WWF Asia-Pacific programme in the 1990s . She joined KFBG in 2000, first focusing on public education and then setting up the sustainable living and agriculture programme in 2006. In recent years, she has been focusing on the revitalisation of a historic monument to KFBG, the Green Hub, and a new Food Hub initiative to mainstream sustainable living and co-creation of positive changes. |
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Date
9 December 2025 (Tuesday)
Time
19:00-20:30 HKT (11:00 - 12:30 GMT)
Format
Zoom
Language
English (supports simultaneous interpretation in Cantonese and Putonghua)
Fee
Free (a donation to support our conservation work will be appreciated)
Donations help cover essential expenses such as speakers’ fees, translation services and other resources. Additional donations support KFBG‘s ecological conservation and holistic education work. Please donate within your means, or still join us even if you are unable to contribute. Together, we can foster a transformative shift towards an ecological perspective.
Application
Please click HERE for online registration by 19:00 HKT, 9 December 2025
Note
● You will receive an auto-reply confirmation email upon registration with the Zoom link attached.
● In case of cancellation, you will be notified before the talk.
Enquiry
Email Ms Jamie Ngai at jamie.ngai@kfbg.org
Kadoorie Earth Programme (KEP) is co-created by KFBG and its network of collaborators and volunteers. By integrating the various strands of KFBG’s nature conservation, sustainable living and holistic education programmes, it provides life-transforming learning experiences that reconnect people with themselves, each other and the rest of nature and enable them to cultivate resilience in the face of climate crisis, economic uncertainty and other related challenges.
Kadoorie Earth Programme Main Page
KEP Talk Series Webpage: 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025