First international "Fascination of Plants Day" May 18, 2012

Plants are unique organisms. They can produce sugars just from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. This ability to directly synthesize their own food has enabled plants to successfully colonise, adapt to, and diversify within almost every niche on the planet and biologists estimate the total number of plant species to be about 250,000.

Plants are the primary producers of biomass providing animals and mankind with food, feed, paper, medicine, chemicals, energy, and an enjoyable landscape. Now the fascinating world of plants itself will be in the spotlight – launched under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation, EPSO in Brussels http://www.epsoweb.orga, a special day for plants shall take place on May 18th 2012. This coordinated activity will plant virtual and constantly germinating seeds in the collective mind of the European and World Public recalling that plant science is of critical significance to the social, environmental and economic landscape now and in the future.

The “Fascination of Plants Day” has been already adopted by more than 25 countries worldwide and the number is growing. All information about this initiative can be accessed via http://www.plantday12.eu and is supported by a network of national coordinators who voluntarily promote and disseminate the activity within their countries.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD) is welcome to join in. Just contact your National Coordinator by clicking on “countries” at http://www.plantday12.eu to discuss and get access to all the supporting materials for the Fascination of Plants Day. The media are also kindly invited to get involved. Scientists, farmers, politicians and industrialists will discuss with them and present the latest state-of-the-art breakthroughs in the plant science world and explore all of the new potential applications plant sciences can offer.

The Fascination of Plants Day covers all plant related topics including basic plant science, agriculture, horticulture & gardening, forestry, plant breeding, plant protection, food & nutrition, environmental conservation, climate change mitigation, smart bioproducts, biodiversity, sustainability, renewable resources, plant science education & art.

Contacts:
Jan Kellmann
Max-Planck-Institute for Chem. Ecology, DE;
Coordinator FoPD
T: +49-3641-571000
jkellmann@ice.mpg.de
Karin Metzlaff, EPSO, BE;
Executive Director EPSO
T: +32-2-2136260
Karin.Metzlaff@epsomail.org
Heribert Hirt, INRA, FR;
President EPSO
T: +33-1-60874508
heribert.hirt@univie.ac.at