The IITA Tree Heritage Park (THP), located within the IITA campus in Ibadan and managed by the Forest Center, has been awarded a Level II Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and The Morton Arboretum. The award recognizes THP for meeting identified standards of professional practices deemed essential for arboreta and botanic gardens.
The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize botanical gardens at various development, capacity, and professional levels. The THP is also recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants. Though it is the 500th accredited arboretum globally, THP is the first in Nigeria and one of the only 11 arboreta to achieve this feat in Africa.
The THP was restored in 2015 for ex-situ conservation of rare and threatened native trees, such as Cola nigerica, Entandrophragma cylindricum, Mansonia altissima, and Terminalia ivorensis. It was initially established in the early 1990s as an agroforestry arboretum incorporating both native and non-native food and forest crops.