Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience
Based at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the new Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience (ReCER) will provide evidence-based information for restoring, repairing and protecting native ecosystems confronted by climate change, degradation and invasive pathogens. It will include the flagship Restore & Renew project, with programs on the genetics of threatened species, as well as diseases affecting plants in gardens, parks and our natural environments, which will provide information to help habitats.
Living Collections
The Living Collections at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan each contain a scientific resource of wild-sourced living plant material of known provenance for use in a range of scientific endeavours.
The Gardens’ nurseries and propagation facilities are critical in the production of plants for use in supplementing at-risk plant populations in the wild. It is likely that these living collections contain plants that could be used to develop bush foods, new plants for horticulture and new medicines. The Gardens will be working with partners to explore this potential in the future.
Daniel Solander Library
Established in 1852, the Daniel Solander Library, located in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, is the oldest botanical research library in Australia. Its world-class collections contain more than 250,000 items, including materials as diverse as books, journals, maps, manuscripts, historic photographs, botanical illustrations, archives, archaeological artefacts and memorabilia, covering the areas of science, history and culture.
Centre for Education and Engagement
The Gardens’ scientific programs support education and outreach for the whole community, especially those targeted at STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) programs for school-aged children.
Through curriculum aligned and formal and informal programs, the Centre
for Education and Engagement provides transformative learning experiences, which help to grow people’s connections, curiosity and understanding of nature, STEM, culture and community. The Centre connects higher education programs, science communication and outreach, to highlight the importance of plants in our lives.
Sustaining life
The Institute's research programs are focused on themes that centre around the importance of plants in our lives, and the need to conserve and protect them for everyone’s benefit.
They focus on the need to provide a knowledge hub for Australian and New South Wales flora, documenting and describing new plants across the environment, conserving and protecting threatened species, and supporting and establishing resilient ecosystems, whether they be in the bush or in urban environments. The new Australian Institute of Botanical Science will serve this purpose.
Plants are central to the existence of all life on our planet, and they are under threat now in a way that has never before been experienced. It is imperative, now more than ever, for the Australian Institute of Botanical Science to be established, and there is so much work to be done.