The Botanic Gardens has unveiled plans for the creation of the “Schomburgk Pavillion and Pond,” in honour of German anthropologist Robert Schomburgk.

Sven Ullrich, a German pharmacist who is regular visitor to Guyana, provided the funding as a gift to the people of Guyana.

According to a statement from the National Parks Commission (NPC), the plan was developed last year and approved by its board. The work will take roughly five months and will cost about US$11,000 or $2.2M. It includes dredging of large existing pond, and the subsequent planting of Guyana’s national flower, the Giant Water lily (Victoria amazonica).

The flower was discovered in the 1840s by Robert Schomburgk close to the sources of the Berbice River. Schomburgk, along with his brother Richard, conducted expeditions into the interior of the then British Guiana on behalf of the Royal Geographic Society.

When Ullrich learned of the plan, he became interested in funding it. “I love Guyana and have enjoyed its great nature and wide variety of plants and animals as well as its people,” he says. Ullrich noted too that Schomburgk took the lily to Europe to show the Europeans. “With my contribution, the lily will be on display for the people of Georgetown in a nice environment. Thus I feel the ties between the past and the present, as well as between past and present, as well as between Guyana and Germany, have been reaffirmed,” he added.

The NPC said it is very pleased to be associated with the gesture, which it hopes to help in its strategic role in the development of the country’s tourism sector.