Below is a preliminary plan of our beautiful SENSORY GARDEN. During completion a few changes were made to the plan. This garden enables all sections of the community to observe the signals sent out by plants - perfume, colour, shape,surface coverings, movement. Animals, including humans,  respond to such signals. This purpose built facility will benefit all the community but especially the young and those with a disability. A drop off point makes the sensory garden easily accessible by car and mini bus.  A shelter makes a wonderful place for a shady picnic.

As a result of a generous donation from a local member of the community and support from council we were able to install our main paths. We now have an observation deck looking over the pond, a human solar clock and a commemorative native rice garden. More features are planned for the future.

Plant Biodiversity

On a recent episode of the ABC radio programme ‘First Bite’ the topic discussed was the importance of increasing the biodiversity of food plants throughout the world.  At present less than a dozen flowering plants account for 80 per cent of our diet – a very narrow selection from the possible available food plants. 

A group of international scientists who attended the Crop Wild Relative Genomics meeting in Asilomar, California in December 2012 published in a recent  ‘Nature’ magazine. They feel that climate change, water and land shortages, soil degradation and an ever increasing population are all very real  threats to Planet Earth’s ability to feed its people.  In order to cope with the changing times, the future of a sufficient supply of food will have to involve a much more diverse group of food crops than are currently being used. The scientists argue that the key to obtaining that diversity is to open old seed vaults and refresh the gene pool with ancient and landrace species of edible plants.

‘Seed banks, which store a wide variety of plants, are a massively untapped resource for feeding an ever-expanding human population’, says Cornell University plant geneticist Susan McCouch.  She and the other scientists called for a massive global effort to sequence the genomes of the potential food plants currently held in 1,700 seed banks across the world.  ‘Gene banks hold hundreds of thousands of seeds and tissue culture materials collected from farmers’ fields and from wild, ancestral populations, providing the raw material that plant breeders need to create crops of the future,’ McCouch stated.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnfirstbite/seeding-the-future/4823894

 http://www.salon.com/2013/07/09/breeding_the_food_of_the_future_partner/

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• Walk in nature, enjoying the wonderful collection of local trees and smaller plants. You can find self-guided walk brochures in information boxes at car parks
• Bird watch
• Picnic with family
• Bring playgroups to play in the Cool Cubby
• Meditate, paint or sketch
• Photograph plants and wildlife
• Hold your group's meetings – outdoors at any of the picnic areas or indoors at the Environment Education Centre (needs to be booked ahead)
• Enjoy a guided walks – need to book ahead
• Immerse your school group in local indigenous rainforest. 
• Research into rainforest plants for rainforest regeneration and other purposes
• Soak up nature, gentle walks for the elderly or people with disabilities, with minibus drop off facilities  
• Explore the hidden corners of the Gardens along the discovery trails...   and much more

The Friends have been the driving force in the establishment of Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens.

With the Gardens now officially opened we are moving into a new phase of its development.

While we still need people who love to plant trees and keep them watered and weeded, we now also need others who are willing to organise events, take people on guided walks, prepare educational material, work on publicity, pursue social networking, prepare IT material, plan future development, raise funds and the myriad of other activities that are part of a functioning botanic gardens.

We are open to ideas and to any help we can get. This is a fascinating time to become involved.

Join the Friends now by completing our membership form and returning to us by mail or email.