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Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust

Who we are

The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust is a statutory body dedicated to:

• maintaining and improving Trust lands, the National Herbarium and the collections of living and preserved plant life owned by the Trust
• increasing knowledge about the plant life of Australia, and of New South Wales in particular
• encouraging the use and enjoyment of the Trust lands by the public by promoting the educational, historical, cultural and recreational activities
• advancing the study of plant sciences and conservation

What we do

The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust is responsible for the:

• Royal Botanic Gardens
• The Domain
• Mount Annan Botanic Garden (410 hectares in Sydney's southwest between Camden and Campbelltown)
• Mount Tomah Botanic Garden (28 hectares located on the Bells Line of Road in the Blue Mountains).

The Royal Botanic Gardens and the Domain combined cover some 65 hectares.

More than 7,000 different kinds of plants are on display at the Sydney site. Some 17,000 species of living plants are on show across the three botanic garden sites.

Some one million specimens, mainly from Australia, are housed in the National Herbarium of New South Wales, located within the Royal Botanic Gardens. Specimens include some collected by Sir Joseph Banks in 1770.

History

Governor Macquarie founded the Royal Botanic Gardens in 1816. The collection and study of plants began with the appointment of the first Colonial Botanist, Charles Fraser, in 1817. This makes the Royal Botanic Gardens the oldest scientific institution in Australia.

Fauna

In 1862, Sydney's first zoo was opened within the Gardens and remained there until 1883 when most of it was transferred to Moore Park. Today, the Royal Botanic Gardens is home to a large colony of flying foxes, who reside in the Palm Grove area. Many species of bird are also found in the Gardens including: Fairy Wren, Buff-banded Rail, Silvereye, White-faced Heron, Sacred Ibis, King Parrot, Rosellas, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Galah, Rainbow Lorikeet, Kookaburra, Tawny Frogmouth and Pacific Black Duck.

How to contact us

Royal Botanic Gardens & The Domain
Mrs Macquaries Rd
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: 9231 8111 (business hrs Mon - Fri; weekends 9231 8125)
Open daily

Mount Anna Botanic Garden
Mount Annan Drive
Mount Annan 2567
Ph: 4648 2477
Open daily except Christmas Day

Mount Tomah Botanic Garden
Bells Line of Road via Bilpin
NSW 2758
Ph: 4567 2154
Open daily except Christmas Day

Website: www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

About Us and Sydney Harbour

The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust seeks to protect Sydney Harbour's natural environment through research into marine plants and weeds, and also sustainable horticultural practices which ensure that we keep our waterways leading into Sydney Harbour as clean as possible.

Dieback Disease of Sydney Red Gums

Copyright © Australian Museum, 2002