Did You Know?

A quick overview of the garden

THE GREEN HEART AT THE CENTRE OF A REGIONAL CITY

• The North Coast Regional Botanic Garden is a ‘flagship attraction’ on the Coffs Coast and is

rated in the top 5 of Coffs Coast attractions based on online visitor reviews, such as on Google.

• Over 120,000 people visit the garden every year.

• The garden is open from 9am to 5pm every day of the year with friendly volunteers greeting

visitors at an Information Centre and Shop at the garden entrance.

• The Australian Institute of Horticulture awarded the Botanic Garden two Community Green

Space Awards in 2024 for showcasing regional ecology, and for work of the volunteer Friends.

• The garden is 20 hectares in area, with over half the area as retained old growth natural forest,

and offers more than 5km of paths, 16 themed native and international garden areas, a tropical

plant glasshouse, shade-house fernery, and boardwalks through majestic rainforests.

• The garden provides a range of signposted discovery walks including the Garlambirla walk

which introduces the local names and use of plants by the Gumbaynggirr people.

• The garden is highly rated by visitors as very accessible for wheelchairs, strollers and also offers

electric buggy transport for people needing mobility assistance.

• Over 5,000 plants are recorded in the database of the Living Plants Collection at the garden,

including many rare and endangered plants of the north coast region.

• Over 100 species of bird as well as koalas, possums, gliders, echidnas and a variety of

endangered flying foxes and microbats live in the garden. The garden is listed as the number

one place on the Coffs Coast for birdwatching on bird watching sites like eBird. The very

popular nocturnal wildlife tours of the garden are offered every month by volunteer guides.

ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN

• The Friends of the Botanic Garden was formed in the early 1980’s and now has over 330

members, most of which also volunteer to serve in a variety of roles in the garden.

• The Friends raise over $100,000 per year (net of fundraising costs) to support garden facilities

and services as well as contributing well over $600,000 each year in volunteer time.

• The Friends provide regular low cost day tours of the garden, specially organised group tours

and provide support services for over 350 events each year in the 2 meeting rooms and 8

outdoor venue sites in the garden. This including weddings, orchestral performances,

community meetings and events, educational programs, concerts and festivals.

• The Friends run a regional Seed Bank in collaboration with Landcare and Local Land Services to

provide seed for habitat restoration on the north coast, as well as running a Herbarium (a plant

library) with over 28,000 specimens and maintaining a Living Plants Collection database.

• The Friends also run a plant propagation nursery to raise plants for sale as well as offering a

therapeutic garden program to share the joys of gardening with people having special needs.

• The Friends provide free regular news bulletins about events in the garden and maintain the

garden website and social media pages which are also used as educational tools, such as a

photographic ‘nature gallery’, to help visitors learn about and understand the natural world.

A HISTORY OF COLLABORATION FOR COMMUNITY BENEFIT

• The origins of the garden began with a canoe trip along Coffs Creek by local conservationists in

1972 to first protect the area and then convert it from a waste dump site into a botanic garden.

• The Botanic Garden was formally opened in September 1988 after a decade of work by an army

of volunteers to clean up the site and plant out the garden, assisting the Council staff.

• The garden is on a special Crown Land reserve managed by the City of Coffs Harbour under a

Plan of Management to guide the management of the garden, assisted by the Friends.

• The work of the Friends is guided by a Strategic Plan with the five goals of: conservation,

education, community enrichment, a strong association and effective collaboration.

• A Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the City of Coffs Harbour and

the Friends of the Garden outlines key areas of responsibility and collaboration. It also

establishes an Advisory Group to guide the implementation of the garden Plan of Management