Preserving Northern Thailand's Botanical Diversity

In 1995, the herbarium collection of CMU's Biology Department was moved into a brand new custom-built facility. The plant specimen collection, the database derived from it and the encyclopaedic botanical knowledge of its curator, Ach. Max were all vital resources during FORRU-CMU's start up years. They allowed us to ensure that the data being collected during nursery and field experiments were properly assigned to professionally identified species. Fruit and foliage voucher specimens of seed trees and, for the first time, tree seedlings of the same species, grown in FORRU-CMU's nursery, are lodged there for historical reference. Here is a short account of the opening of the herbarium building (CMUB), its function and the botanical surveys ongoing at that time.