Naples Botanical Garden, Inc.

In keeping with the Garden’s mission and our Vision 2026 Strategic Plan, we have identified the following goals:

1. We are a garden for all, a community hub, and a neutral convener.

2. We create beautiful displays of tropical plants, highlighting rare and valuable scientific specimens, creating an environment rich with opportunities to learn.

3. We create engaging, accurate, and impactful visitor experiences for a diverse audience, accessible to all, highlighting the ecosystems and cultures of the tropics.

4. We are a global leader in environmental education efforts for all ages and audiences, resulting in measurable behavioral change.

5. We develop solutions for the most threatened ecosystems in the tropical world, including in our own community.

Our programs and rotating exhibits present a clear connection to horticultural or conservation themes and provide an additional layer of interpretation of the living collections, allowing visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the plants and physical environment of the Garden. By creating a space with beautiful plant displays, and interesting opportunities in a place that people want to visit, we are able to engage our visitors, allowing us to also educate them about important environmental issues such as stormwater management.

Naples Botanical Garden is fulfilling the goals it set out for itself —and its commitment to the community—by serving as leader, catalyst, anchor, and collaborator. The Southwest Florida region is primed and ready to support its innovative work in promoting resilient, livable, and sustainable environments. Citizens and agencies in the area are seeking out the Garden’s advice and help as they face emergency situations such as hurricanes and red tide relating to water quality, plants, and wildlife. In order to transform the landscape in response to urgent and changing climate conditions, the Garden works with local partners such as Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Involving and educating citizens to become stewards of the environment is the only path to the conservation and effective change that the Garden seeks for Florida and beyond.

The Garden’s location on the fringe of the tropics provides a unique opportunity to work with partner organizations in the United States and the Caribbean to develop comprehensive collections that will be an internationally significant botanical resource displayed in beautiful gardens; and to undertake in-situ/ex-situ conservation initiatives to preserve critically endangered plants. The Garden also intends to serve as an authoritative source of horticultural information to the landscape trades and home gardeners, a leader in sustainability, conservation, and research by addressing the degradation of biodiversity through working partnerships with higher education and related organizations worldwide.

With the urgent need to fortify its ecosystems against the warming temperatures, rising seas, and disappearing habitats that threaten to push plant species into extinction and alter the workings of the environment, the region is confronting environmental pressures with the potential for significant damage to Southwest Florida’s economy and way of life. Furthermore, by addressing the degradation of biodiversity through working partnerships with higher education and related organizations worldwide, the Garden intends to become a leader in sustainability, conservation, and research.

“We are viewed locally as an essential community asset, addressing compelling unmet human needs. We attract all key audiences, both generationally and culturally. We host major events and respected exhibits and are valued as the most desirable meeting place in the area. Our expanded educational offerings reach diverse audiences, including underserved groups, with innovative programming. Our facilities are thoughtfully designed to address current and future needs and provide barrier free, property-wide accessibility. Through all of this, our collective spirit and passion for our mission has endured and grown."

The Garden's mission and strategic plan are squarely focused on engaging underserved and diverse audiences, addressing the needs of the community, and developing the staff's diversity awareness.

Naples Botanical Garden creates beautiful displays of flora highlighting rare and valuable scientific specimens, creating an environment rich with opportunities to learn. Our display gardens are also living research laboratories. While we have promoted our work as occurring between the 26th latitudes, that is shifting. As climate changes, our work will be relevant further and further north. Finding plants in the tropics that can be brought into the U.S. landscaping will be highly valuable.

Environmental education efforts for all ages and audiences result in measurable behavior changes. As a Garden for All, our programming is inclusive and encourages engagement and exploration regardless or age, ability, or economic status. The entire campus is used as a classroom, including our award-winning stormwater management system.

Our Unique Skills include:
1) Applied Science
2) Regional Knowledge
3) Conservation Horticulture
4) Restoration
5) Partnerships

The Garden's living collection preserves and promotes Florida native plant species, as well as being home to plants from around the world. The Garden creates and delivers programming in the arts, culture, youth and adult education, conservation, and wellness. In 2017 the Garden was devastated by Hurricane Irma. The Garden
rebuilt with renewed emphasis on climate resilience, natural water management, a conservation focus, and a determination to help all of Southwest Florida to be more resilient in the face of catastrophic climate events. In recognition of its excellence, the Garden has received awards, including:

• 2018 Award for Museum Excellence (Florida Association of Museums)
• 2017 Award for Garden Excellence (American Public Gardens Association)
• 2015 the Eleanor and Nicholas Chabraja Visitor Center received a LEED gold certificate, reflecting our commitment to sustainability

Due to COVID-19 in 2020, the Garden transitioned its focus to programming that presents inspiring experiences, engaging exhibits, and cultural opportunities through virtual programs and self-guided activities. These objectives were accomplished by adapting and developing offerings to prioritize our commitment to innovation and excellence in education. For example, we now offer Guide by Cell, an audio tour option with Text Chat which will allow visitors the ability to ask questions via their phones in a live chat room. Replies to questions, such as about plant identification, will be sent in real time. Due to their popularity, virtual opportunities are a permanent part of the Garden's offerings.

In 2019, the Garden piloted its free membership access program, Garden for All, to low-income and ALICE families identified through United Way and partnering organizations. With the onset of the pandemic, the initial scaling timeline had to be altered. While the Garden was closed, we pivoted to virtual programs and accelerated the timeline of providing interpretation in both English and Spanish. When the Garden reopened in July, we recognized that the families we most wanted to attract were also the most likely to be working in essential, frontline worker roles.

On July 15, 2020, the Garden launched a Community Appreciation campaign, offering free admission to essential workers and their families who live in our community. This demographic included people working in healthcare, education, retail, essential services, as first responders, and in tourism/hospitality. Built upon other free admission opportunities (i.e., for Bank of America and Collier County library cardholders), the Community Appreciation program was extremely well received. Due to the success and need of such programs, the Garden continues to offer and expand upon accessible programming to the community.