 Its mission is "to protect and enrich the flora of the Lake Baikal area and the world for people through public education, collection, propagation, research, and conservation of plants".The garden is mainly an educational and scientific tool for the Irkutsk State University and maintains the largest plant collection of living plants in Eastern Siberia (more than 5,000 plant taxa), a herbarium, and a seed bank.It occupies within Irkutsk city, West of Lake Baikal.