KALAHEO — Chipper Wichman sat in the Botanical Research Center at National Tropical Botanical Garden headquarters on a sunny Thursday morning, looking at a version of himself he’s never seen before.
The bronze bust was installed at the center in November bearing Wichman’s likeness, complete with a plaque that gives details of his more than 40 years working with NTBG — a testament to the impact Wichman has made on Kauai and the world.
“I tried to say ‘no’ to this, but I couldn’t. People kept asking me,” NTBG’s president said, leaning back in his chair and examining the bust, which stands about five feet high. “It’s a bit embarrassing.”
A few minutes later, a couple from Reno, Nev., wandered in the door that Wichman forgot to lock behind him, looking for directions to the visitor center.
They took in the statue while talking story, and even though Wichman didn’t mention it, it didn’t take long for them to realize they were talking with the flesh-and-blood version of the bronze bust.
Wichman gave the Nevada couple directions to the center — “just keep taking rights until you find the ocean” — and then bid them farewell.
They left saying they felt honored to meet “the man himself ” in the quiet and studious BRC, a place that houses a rare plant seed bank and a library of rare botany books, and is only occasionally open to the public.
The bust was unveiled at the BRC in November and made by sculptor J. Brett Grill of JBG Sculpture of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
NTBG Trustee Emeritus Thomas S. Kenan III, who has been an NTBG supporter for four decades, donated the bust to commemorate the “lifetime of commitment, dedication and accomplishments of Chipper Wichman and his wife and Executive Assistant Hauʻoli Wichman,” according to an NTBG release.
Alongside the bronze bust that morning, Wichman had another treasure to unveil: the honorary doctorate degree he earned last month from Florida International University, where NTBG hosts the International Center for Tropical Botany.
The university has only given out five honorary doctorates in the past 15 years.
“It was an amazing honor in recognition of my four decades of work to protect our planet,” Wichman said. “They don’t just hand them out, either. It has to go through multiple layers of approval first. Really, it is quite special.”
Wichman started working at NTBG as an intern in 1976, and throughout the years has grown NTBG to include five botanical gardens and five preserves in Hawaii and Florida.
One of those, Limahuli Garden and Preserve in Haena, was created when the Wichmans donated all of the 1,000-acre Limahuli Valley to NTBG for protection of rare plants and traditional Hawaiian cultural practices, like ahupua‘a land management.
Looking back over the past 40 years, Wichman points to two major accomplishments, the 2016 World Conservation Congress and the creation of the International Center for Tropical Botany in Florida.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s 2016 WCC event was held in Honolulu that year and brought conservationists from around the world to Hawaii and pushed Hawaii’s conservation issues to the forefront of many discussions.
It was a project that took nearly a decade to pull off, an idea that sprouted in casual conversation about Hawaii as a catalyst for worldwide conservation.
When all was said and done, Hawaii hosted 10,300 people from 192 countries in a 10-day event that cost $20 million.
The International Center for Tropical Botany in Florida took just as long to come together, with the doors opening in 2013.
“It’s super important what they’re doing because they’re teaching the next generation of tropical botanists and getting degrees to international students,” Wichman said.
After 15 years as director of NTBG, Wichman changed hats in 2019 and handed the reins over to current director Janet Mayfield, who has been working at NTBG since 1997.
Now, Wichman is NTBG president and traveling the world, partnering with conservationists and organizations.
In the end, he says, working with rare plants is a calling he’s happy to answer.
“Sometimes people ask if I get discouraged working with these disappearing plants, but the biggest kuleana (responsibility) of our generation is to not allow anything else to go extinct. That’s final,” he said. “For me, that’s inspiring.”
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Jessica Else, environment reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
