Divisions ~ Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
The 14-hectare Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens was established in 1818. It is the only botanic garden in Tasmania and provides a setting of beauty, celebration, botanical and horticultural excellence offering recreation and learning opportunities for Tasmanians and other visitors.
The Gardens are located in a culturally significant landscape precinct, including Government House, the Queens Domain and the former Beaumaris Zoo site (home of the last living Tasmanian Tiger in the 1930s). The Gardens are an important Aboriginal and European cultural heritage site, with significant built heritage features including the convict built Arthur Wall and Eardley Wilmot Wall.
The Gardens are a State Government statutory organisation, governed by the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens Act 2002 and administered by the Department of Tourism, Parks, Heritage and the Arts. A board of seven members, appointed by the Minister for Tourism, Parks and Heritage, manages the Gardens under this Act.
The Gardens have as its main objective to be internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in Southern Hemisphere cool climate plants, and to enrich Tasmania's social and cultural environment.
The Gardens manage, conserve and enhance the assets by delivering sustainable and relevant programs in plant collections and displays, tourism and recreation, cultural heritage, research, and learning for Tasmania and the broader community.
Some key elements the Gardens will focus on, through the Gardens' Strategic Plan 2003-2007, are:
- growing, researching and displaying southern hemisphere cool climate plants, including subantarctic flora, while continuing the care of existing northern hemisphere plant collections;
- striving to provide a range of experiences that will enhance people's awareness and appreciation of plants and the Gardens' cultural heritage;
- striving to enhance the importance of Tasmania's natural heritage through plant conservation and research programs in collaboration with other institutions;
- utilising the horticultural and botanical expertise of staff to offer a greater range and quality of education and interpretation programs across Tasmania;
- addressing other key issues such as appropriate resourcing, integrated management for cultural heritage in the broader parklands precinct, alleviation of the traffic noise and links to the Derwent River foreshore;
- continuing to move towards more business like management of the Gardens, including improved income generation, without losing the qualities that are highly valued by the community; and
- enhancing the Gardens' environmental leadership role by implementing the 'reduce, recover and re-use' philosophy, practical community education programs and plant conservation initiatives.