The day dedicated to Danijela Vincek, the founder of the Botanical Garden in Kolašin, was an opportunity to once again highlight the breadth of his scientific work and exceptional contribution to the study of the flora of Montenegro, but also to raise the issue of the state's attitude towards his precious legacy.
Vincek donated the Botanical Garden in Dulovine to the state during his lifetime, and it is now managed by the Public Company for National Parks of Montenegro (JPNPCG). As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth, JPNPCG organized a series of commemorative activities, educational workshops for elementary school students, a panel discussion dedicated to his work and legacy, as well as the unveiling of a memorial plaque with Vincek's image and a quote that testifies to his deep dedication to nature and botany.
As the director of JPNPCG said Marinela Đuretić, the gathering is an opportunity to discuss important topics of botany, nature conservation and future challenges, but also to give special recognition to people whose work has left a lasting mark on science and the preservation of natural heritage.
She said that it is necessary to continue the decades-long tradition of professional and scientific work, while strengthening cooperation between institutions, scientists and the local community, in order to preserve and pass on Montenegro's natural resources to future generations. She particularly emphasized the importance of institutional support and joint action in preserving protected areas and enhancing their values.
Deep trace
The panel discussion participants described Vincek as an exceptional and unusual personality, a man who, with his work, knowledge and dedication, left a deep mark on Montenegrin botany. It was emphasized that he was a great lover of nature, mountains and plants, and that he passed on this love to numerous younger generations of researchers. Vincek was known for his exceptional knowledge of the flora of Montenegro, fieldwork and meticulous recording of data, which the participants consider valuable for today's and future scientific research. Although he was not a biologist or botanist by formal education, but an economist and foreign trade expert, botany was his life's passion to which he devoted himself completely after retirement.
The panelists emphasized that he was a man ahead of his time, open to cooperation and ready to selflessly share his knowledge with others. His role in popularizing botany in Montenegro, creating conditions for scientific research and connecting domestic and foreign experts was particularly highlighted. Thanks to his work, many researchers had the opportunity to learn about the richness of Montenegrin flora, while the Dulovina Botanical Garden remained his most recognizable life's work and permanent legacy.
Although the Dulovina Botanical Garden remains one of the most important places for the preservation of plant diversity in Montenegro, the participants of the panel discussion assessed that it faces numerous challenges today. It was emphasized that after the death of Danijela Vincek, the garden lost some of its former glory, and that its living and herbarium collections were significantly depleted. The need for the restoration of plant species that have disappeared over time, as well as for continuous professional supervision and care that was once provided by Vincek himself and his associates, was particularly emphasized.
The panel stated that Vincek's legacy has not always been treated with sufficient responsibility, which is why it is necessary to intensify activities to restore and improve the garden. The priorities highlighted were restoring its former reputation, developing educational and research content, and creating conditions for the garden to once again become a gathering place for scientists, students, and nature lovers. The participants stated that achieving these goals requires stronger institutional support, professional staff, and long-term investments in order to preserve and develop the valuable natural and scientific heritage that Danijel Vincek left to Montenegro.
Enrichment of the living collection
"I am not satisfied with how it looks today. I am aware that this is the responsibility of the state, but also of all of us... We have a great treasure, the endowment that Daniel left us, but in these years, since he has been gone, we have not behaved responsibly towards it and we have to fix it... You cannot think about protecting nature, about protecting flora, if you do not have a botanical garden. That is the first initial step to do that ex situ protection for so much, so to speak, endemic flora that Montenegro is rich in. What is very important is that he took the first step, and the second step is the seed bank. We have the foundation and we need to continue towards forming a seed bank and further towards real protection, not only the one that consists of our story or some papers, but towards real protection of the very rich flora that Montenegro can be proud of," said the scientist Snežana Dragićević (SINGING).
The JPNP CG announced that they have started the process of restoring the botanical garden to its former appearance, former meaning and former reputation that it had during Vincek's lifetime. The company sees the Botanical Garden as an interpretive and educational center in the future.
"The first step is to enrich this living collection, to renew the herbarium collection, to restore the splendor of the garden that it once had, and then to somehow restore its reputation through young visitors, as a place where people will come and where researchers will gather and have the will to contribute to that space themselves. Our obligation is to make the botanical garden a place where young people will be happy to come and return to it. That is our obligation in the coming years, but first we have to restore its appearance, and then at the same time attract young visitors," she said. Slavica Đurišić from JPNPCG.
Vincek's translation work
Academics from Vukić Pulević He highlighted a lesser-known, but extremely important contribution of Danijela Vincek to Montenegrin science, his translation work. As he emphasized, Montenegro had an exceptionally developed geographical literature in the 19th century, mostly written in German, which is why it remained insufficiently known to the domestic professional public for a long time due to the language barrier and the lack of institutions that would systematically present it.
He particularly highlighted the works of the German geographer Kurt Hasselt, who thoroughly explored Montenegro and left behind significant works on physical geography and travelogues. Vincek translated these texts, as well as numerous other scientific and travelogue works by foreign authors, into our language, thus making them accessible to domestic scientists and the wider public.
Pulević emphasized that Vincek was not only a translator, but also an exceptional polyglot and mediator between scientific traditions, whose translations included works from German, Italian, English and Russian. In doing so, he significantly contributed to the affirmation of Montenegrin geography, botany and wider scientific and cultural heritage, as well as its international visibility.
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