5 minute read
What's new? - Botanic news: from home and abroad
Cassandra Nichols, CEO, BGANZ Ltd
Thank you to John Arnott
As many of you will know, John has finally hung up his gardening boots at the RBGV Cranbourne Gardens, where he was Manager Horticulture for 16 years. His career started at Melbourne Zoo in 1980 as an apprentice gardener.
John is a founding member of BGANZ and a well known botanic force of nature. His passion and ongoing commitment to public botanic gardens, plant conservation and BGANZ is truly remarkable.
Thank you, John, for your time, passion and expertise. You have been and will continue to be an incredible asset to BGANZ. We look forward to working with you in future.
To learn more about John’s long career in horticulture, see our Feature Interview with him from 2021, here.
New members
BGANZ is delighted to welcome the following new members in 2024:
• Armidale Council (Armidale Bicentennial Arboretum, Dumaresq Dam, Central Park)
• The Friends of Burnley Gardens.
We also have six new individual members. Welcome all!
Grant to support the UniSA Garden Visitor Survey successful
We were very pleased to announce that we have been successful in receiving a grant to proceed with the UniSA visitor survey at the very reduced cost of $1500 per garden. Thank you to everyone who provided letters of support. We are very excited by this opportunity and the data it will provide for the sector.
The offer is open to all BGANZ members so please contact us if you are interested. The more who participate, the greater strength we have in advocating the social well being and tourism value of botanic gardens and arboreta, so we encourage gardens to join if they can.
Please email secretariat@bganz.org.au if you would like to join the survey or need more information about it.
8th Global Botanic Gardens Congress (8GBGC ), Singapore, 6–9 August 2024
I will be attending the Congress and hope to meet many of you there.
If you cannot attend in person, virtual registration is available. An Institutional Rate is available upon request and discounted rates are offered for bulk purchases by institutions. Please contact 8gbgc.sbg@pico.com for more information.
SAVE THE DATE — 8th Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand Conference 2025 — Advancing our reach: innovation and leadership in botanic gardens, 3–5 November 2025, Canberra
Hosted by Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian National Botanic Gardens.
Share knowledge and experience to advance the role of botanic gardens as globally recognised centres of excellence for plant science, conservation, education, and outreach.
ANBG looks forward to showcasing their beautiful gardens, Australia’s capital city and stunning regional surrounds.
•Aug 2024 Conference website live
• Dec 2024 Early bird registration opens; call for abstracts
• May 2025 Abstracts Close
Botanic Gardens Day 2024
I had the pleasure of visiting WAMA’s Grampians/Gariwerd Endemic Botanic Gardens on Botanic Gardens Day, 26 May, for their opening.
What an impressive living collection telling the incredible story of the value of the Grampians to Victoria’s floral biodiversity. More than a third of Victoria’s native species are found in the Grampians, with many of these endemic to the region. Created in 2022, WAMA’s endemic botanic gardens display most of the 70 plant species that only grow within the Grampians region. It’s a vital biodiversity hotspot.
The gardens are an excellent example of what can be created by an individual’s passion and vision, and a strong network of volunteers. Congratulations to the community for bringing this amazing space to life and we look forward to sharing the progress as it grows!
Thank you to all the gardens, from every state and territory in Australia and from both islands in NZ, who participated in this year’s Botanic Gardens Day, either via their social media or with live events. The number of gardens participating was up 20% compared to 2023. Our social media reach was also up by 52% and we had almost 450% more visitors to our website!
The number of gardens participating was up 20% compared to 2023.
If you haven’t returned your post event questionnaire, it’s not too late. Just email it to Rebecca at media@bganz.org.au.
We’d love to know what your garden’s social media reach was, so please include it in the questionnaire.
We also had five news articles and five radio stations cover events in NZ, Vic, NSW and the NT. Our old friend Costa must have put a good word in for us as we were even mentioned on the ABC Gardening Australia website! Thank you to Eucalypt Australia and the Ironwood Institute for your help with online promotion as well.
A huge thank you to all the members of our Botanic Gardens Day working groups; John Arnott, Ellie Cheney, Amalia McLaren Brown, Amanda Coleman, Alison Morgan and Helen McHugh, and a special thank you to our webinar production team volunteers Pippa Lucas, from Auckland Botanic Gardens, and James Roche, a science communications student from the ANU on placement at ANBG. Both worked hard behind the scenes organising speakers, making videos and analysing data.
A big thank you to every one of you.
Botanic Gardens Day 2025
Next year is the 10th anniversary of Botanic Gardens Day and we’d like your ideas on how we can celebrate it. If you would like to be on the working group, please send an EOI to Rebecca, at media@bganz.org.au.
