Community support

Donate a bench

Benches have become an important part of the fabric of our Gardens. Each bench tells an individual story. Some benches celebrate joyous events such as a birth or a wedding; some mark a special time that people shared in the Garden and some remember loved ones who had a passion for the Garden and for the environment.

Donating a bench is wonderful way to demonstrate your special connection to Mount Anan Botanic Garden and at the same time, funds raised by this program help support important initiatives.

Please contact our Development Section on (02) 9231 8022.

Adopt a tree

Every visitor who comes to the Royal Botanic Gardens has their favourite tree. It is perhaps one of the majestic Moreton Bay Figs, the extremely rare Wollemi Pine, or maybe Sydney’s first street trees planted in 1816, the Swamp Mahoganies. It is now a sad fact that many of these signature trees in the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Domain are coming to the end of their productive lives.

Major tree planting programs are now underway to ensure that the three Botanic Gardens and the Domain will be enjoyed by future generations of visitors and admirers.

Trees are also available for adoption in the Domain as part of the Domain Masterplan — this is an amazing opportunity to be part of history and Sydney’s cultural heritage.

You can adopt a tree at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Mount Annan Botanic Garden or Mount Tomah Botanic Garden. Each of the trees available for adoption has been selected because of its horticultural, cultural or historic significance — these young trees will grow to become the grand old trees of the future.

Please contact our Development Section on (02) 9231 8022.

Adopt a Wollemi Pine at Mount Annan Botanic Garden

Over a decade ago, this living dinosaur of the plant world was discovered by Parks Ranger, David Noble, in the Wollemi National Park. Twelve years later, in the heart of Mount Annan Botanic Garden, the Wollemi Walk of Discovery was opened. It contains the only ex-situ collection of exact genetic replicas (clones) of the wild Wollemi Pine stands from the Wollemi National Park. The ex-situ collection was created as part of the Conservation Management Plan put in place for the Wollemi Pine when it was discovered.

You now have an opportunity to support this important collection to ensure that the genetic material of this rare colony of trees is protected. The Wollemi Walk of Discovery currently covers approximately 10,000 sq m of land behind Sundial Hill and currently has 60 of the 200 cloned trees planted in the area. To plant the other 140 trees we need support from both the general public and corporate Australia to fund the landscaping and work involved in completing such a massive project.

When finalised, the Wollemi Walk of Discovery will house not only all the genetic material of the wild Wollemi Pine stand, but also provide members of the public with the opportunity to experience walking amongst these greats of the plant world.

Several trees already planned on the Walk have been growing since the trees were discovered and are the largest Wollemi Pines to be found in captivity. The Walk has been planted in such a way as to mimic the actual site of the Wollemi stand in the wild.

So don't miss out on your opportunity to leave a life-long legacy that will still be standing long after you, your children, or your children's children are walking the earth.

To sponsor these one-off Wollemi Pines is only $2000 (tax deductible donation) for which you will receive:

A Certificate of Adoption giving the genetic heritage of your tree
A Photograph and Wollemi Fact Sheet
A personally guided tour of the site by one of our knowledgeable staff
Your own small Wollemi Pine to take home with you, and
Be listed on the Honours Board at the Wollemi Walk of Discovery

If you would like to take up this rare opportunity to ensure the ongoing survival of this rare tree, then please contact Rebecca Moutia on 02 4634 7903 or by email to rebecca.moutia@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

Restore a book

Established in 1852, the Botanic Gardens Trust Library is one of the premier botanical and horticultural libraries in Australia. The library holds about 55,000 volumes of monographs and serials in the fields of plant systematics, plant ecology and horticulture. Small collections of books are located at Mount Annan and Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens.

The Library has a considerable collection of rare and valuable books housed in a special annexe. There are many outstanding early colonial and pre-colonial volumes. This collection includes the first 26 books bought for the library in 1852.

After 150 years, this extraordinary collection, including the Library’s many leather-bound volumes of colonial-era serials, is suffering wear and tear and badly needs restoration.

Your support is needed to help us maintain this vital collection of Australia’s botanical heritage.

Please contact our Development Section on (02) 9231 8022.

Support research

Your support can make an immense difference in helping us to protect the environment.

Plants are the basis of all life. They provide us with food, timber, fossil fuels and maintain the quality of our atmosphere and soil. Research is vital if we are to understand plants more fully, to use them, enjoy them and conserve them in our rapidly changing world. As Australia’s oldest scientific institution, we have a highly respected team of botanists, ecologists and horticultural researchers, all devoted to studying plants. Their knowledge provides the scientific knowledge for setting conservation policies to preserve the world’s biodiversity.

Some areas researched by the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust’s plant scientists include:

Healthy Rivers
The water plants in a river or wetland give valuable clues to its environmental health. Our botanists have devised strategies for restoring sustainable plant communities in this fragile ecosystem. They also search for indicators of stream health amongst aquatic plants and algae.

Saving the bush
Natural vegetation is essential if we are to maintain the quality of our farmlands. Protecting native vegetation in rural areas is a major defence against land degradation, while revegetation improves the health of our environment and provides essential ecological services (e.g. pollination and soil fungi). Rare species and habitats must be identified and conserved if we are to avoid losing potentially critical parts of our natural environment.

Fighting weeds, pests and disease
Weeds, plant diseases and pests are major problems for agricultural and horticultural industries. Our research plays an important role in early recognition of weeds and assessing their potential impact on the economy and the environment.

Vital record of plants
The Trust is a member of the International network of organisations that maintains a living and preserved record of the world's plant species. Our three Gardens at Sydney, Mount Annan and Mount Tomah, contain about 17 000 species of living plants. The Herbarium (the National Herbarium of NSW) contains over one million pressed and dried specimens.

Please contact our Development Section on (02) 9231 8022.

Royal Botanic Gardens