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As Australia’s oldest scientific institution, our experts have spent more than 200 years helping discover, research and protect our plants. In this challenging new era, we need your support more than ever before to continue our pioneering research, deliver transformational education, and sustain our unique living collections.

Threat of climate change

Climate change is one of the most significant threats to plant biodiversity on a global and local scale. Across Australia, billions of trees, shrubs and other plant life were destroyed in the recent bushfires. Our country is also dealing with years of drought. Based on the consensus of global scientific projections, these events will become more frequent and more intense because of climate change.

Even within our Botanic Gardens the impact of climate change is significant. More than a quarter of the living collection at the Blue Mountain Botanic Garden Mount Tomah was burnt this summer, and over 90% of the surrounding conservation area was also heavily impacted. Drought remains a pressing threat to our Living Collections, and we are in desperate need of sustainable water solutions.

The team of experts at the Botanic Gardens are working on real solutions to help ensure our plant life can withstand a changing climate. Our aim is to prevent the extinction of not only our plants, but the animals which rely on them, including you and me.

Our solutions

Plants are the building blocks of life, and our team of world-class scientists and horticulturists in the Botanic Gardens are working harder than ever to protect our plants and our future.

The newly established Australian Institute of Botanical Science will unite and elevate the vital science undertaken across the Botanic Gardens. Our aim is for the Institute to become one of the nation’s premier botanical research organisations, providing visionary leadership to advance the discovery, understanding and conservation of plants.

At the Australian Institute of Botanical Science, our team of experts are: 

  • taking action to document diversity, build collections and share plant knowledge 

  • assessing the ability of plants to adapt to a changing climate

  • safeguarding at-risk plants to minimise the risk of extinction

  • increasing the likelihood that plants can survive threats to biodiversity including a changing climate

  • building more resilient ecosystems for future generations.

Learn more about how the Gardens' resources in the Australian Institute of Botanical Science are being used to understand and combat climate change below.

Your impact

You can make a difference in the fight to protect our plants and our future. By supporting the scientists and horticulturists in the Botanic Gardens, your gift will help ensure the survival of plants and the life that depends on them.

To sustain our beautiful gardens for the enjoyment of all who hold it dear – Donate today. 
To advance vital science and combat climate change – Donate today. 
To enable our scientists and horticulturists at the Botanic Gardens to protect our plants and our future – Donate today.

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The Australian Institute of Botanical Science

Once established, the Australian Institute of Botanical Science will aspire to achieve the Gardens' vision and mission for our innovative plant sciences. 

Our science vision:

Our world-leading research and collections advance fundamental knowledge of plants and drive effective conservation 

Our science mission:

Providing solutions to critical environmental challenges facing the world today

The Institute will consist of both physical and virtual scientific collections, services and facilities at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.  

Together, these resources will enable our scientists to better protect our plants and our future through:

Living Collections
The living collections at our three Botanic Gardens are invaluable. The plants in the Gardens span centuries and geography. They tell a grand story – the love affair of a nation and plants. The pages of this story have been written by the expert horticulturists who have had a hand in planting every flower, every shrub and every tree over the past two hundred years. 

Our three Botanic Gardens are home to nearly 60,000 species of plants that, beyond their beauty, are used for a range of scientific endeavours, especially those collected from the wild and whose provenance is documented. Our living collections potentially contain plants that can be used in the development of bush food, new plants for horticulture and a source of new medicines.
National Herbarium of NSW
The National Herbarium of New South Wales is one of the most significant botanical resources in the Southern Hemisphere and houses more than 1.43 million plant specimens. The growing collection is essential for informing and making decisions about the conservation and management of our natural environment. 

We are taking part in the international movement to share botanical collections online, contributing to a global database combining botanical knowledge worldwide. This will help researchers make discoveries to advance science, assist with the restoration of our unique and ancient flora following the destructive bushfires and assist in protecting our valuable collection by reducing the need to handle the fragile specimens. This vital online resource will advance research, policy and education on a global scale.
Australian PlantBank
With up to 50% of plant species worldwide facing risk of extinction, our seed and tissue culture collections at the Australian PlantBank help ensure their survival. PlantBank, located at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, already houses more than 100 million seeds, including 63% of NSW’s threatened species. The devastating impact of the recent bushfires highlights the urgent need to upscale our efforts to collect more plant material from approximately 25,000 plant species in Australia to protect their future. Seed banking, when combined with other programs to recover species and ecosystems, is our best hope to protect our plants and our future.

This includes rainforest seeds as these species have not evolved to survive fire and drought as other Australian species have. The Rainforest Seed Conservation Project aims to increase the global capacity to conserve rainforest plants by investigating the storability of seeds of Australian rainforest species and develop methods for preserving those not suitable for traditional seed banking methods. It is imperative that the Rainforest Seed Conservation Project continues to safeguard our unique rainforest species before it is too late.
PlantClinic
PlantClinic is a ‘plant hospital’ located at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. It is one of Australia’s leading plant disease research laboratories, with global experts on introduced plant diseases such as Phytophthora dieback, a fungal disease that poses a significant threat to Australian plant species such as the Wollemi Pine. Our scientists work on some of the biggest issues facing Australia, protecting food security and the national environment by contributing to understanding and controlling the world's plant diseases. They collaborate with international scientists working on the wilt diseases that are affecting a range of food, grain and fibre crops including banana, watermelon, peas, cotton and vanilla.

Plant ‘doctors’ test and diagnose the Garden’s sick plants, as well as servicing external stakeholders including the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, biosecurity agencies, nurseries, council and gardeners.
Centre for Ecosystem Resilience
Following the bushfires, landscapes throughout Australia require restoration and rehabilitation to support healthy bushland for animals, plants and people. For ecosystems to grow and thrive into the future, they need to be made up of species that are well adapted to the local geology, climate and soil and that means planting the rights plants in the right area.

Restore & Renew is the flagship program at the Centre for Research in Ecosystem Resilience and is helping to restore healthy ecosystems that are diverse, resilient and adaptable. More than 30,000 plants across NSW have been sampled for genetic analysis to produce practical and accessible tools for ecological restoration practitioners. Our ecosystems need to be genetically diverse and resilient to threats such as pest invasion, disease and of course the challenges presented by climate change. Restore & Renew has the potential to save time and money by increasing the chances that a newly planted area is genetically suitable and likely to flourish over time.
Daniel Solander Library
The Daniel Solander Library was established in 1852 and is the oldest botanical research library in Australia. Its world-class collections contain over a quarter of a million items and include materials as diverse as books, journals, botanical illustrations, historic photographs, manuscripts, maps, archives, archaeological artefacts, and memorabilia. These collections enable our researchers to explore and discover the rich history of Australia’s botanical landscapes.

A thorough understanding of our past will make us better equipped to handle the challenges of tomorrow, giving us the best tools to protect our plants and our future.
PlantNet
With PlantNet, our botanists bring immense botanical knowledge to the world's fingertips. This free online guide identifies flowering plants, conifers, cycads, ferns and their allies, both native and introduced, found in NSW.

It is a heavily utilised public resource, used by more than 22,000 scientists, students, consultants and others per month. The data available on PlantNet gives researchers all over the world tools to help protect our plants and our future.
Education Programs
Our team of experienced educators provide education programs for children all ages, teaching them the importance of plants in our lives and inspiring them to be environmental advocates of the future. Through transformative learning experiences, we grow connections, curiosity and understanding of nature, science, culture and community — inspiring positive action and advocacy for a world in balance.

 

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