The General meeting of the Division of Biological and Medical Sciences of ANAS continued with the reports of 4 institutes.

Members of the Department, heads of institutes, leading scientists, and representatives of universities took part in the meeting.

The report of the Institute of Botany of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan was presented by the general director of the institute, doctor of biological sciences, professor Sayyara Ibadullayeva.

In the report, the state of the study of the flora of Azerbaijan, rare and endangered plant diversity, relevant databases, activities related to the 3rd edition of the "Red Book" of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and internal and international cooperation in the relevant fields took a large place. Professor Sayyara Ibadullayeva said that in the reporting year, the main focus was on activities related to the 3rd edition of the "Red Book" and that 57 expeditions and up to 40 business trips were carried out by the employees of the institute related to this issue, as well as topic plans.

The professor noted that in the current year, essays, maps, and pictures for 443 species were prepared for the new III edition of the "Red Book", as well as research was conducted on the inspection of herbarium specimens of Karabakh flora, the creation of databases and electronic catalogs. In 2022, for the first time, expeditions were organized to Shusha, Zangilan, Lachin, Kalbajar, Fuzuli, and Jabrayil regions, Topkhana forest was inspected. 11,700 herbarium specimens from Karabakh were digitized and listed. The director general said that currently, 4 local and 2 international databases serve the purpose of improving and strengthening the science information system at the Institute of Botany. 2 magazines are published in the institute, each twice a year.

Speaking at the discussion of the report, the corresponding member of ANAS, Zeynal Akparov, drew attention to the importance of duplicating the plant seed samples collected by the Institute of Botany in the National Genbank, at the same time ex situ conservation in botanical gardens and in situ conservation in nature, and the importance of relevant databases. Sayyara Ibadullayeva said that the collected seed materials were duplicated in the gene bank of Kew Botanical Gardens located in Great Britain, and also provided information about the electronic databases operating at the institute.

Aydın Askarov, the head of the department of the Institute of Botany, doctor of biological sciences, said that the existing and recommended protection measures of each endangered species are mentioned in the "Red Book", and the importance of paying attention to the issues of introduction and reintroduction.

Concluding the discussions, academician Irada Huseynova once again drew attention to the successful implementation of scientific research plans in the reporting year at the institutes and gave recommendations and suggestions to be taken into account in future activities.

The annual reports of the institutes were adopted on the basis of the general opinion of the members of the Division.