Lismore City Council has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with the Friends of Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens to support the volunteer organisation to continue their vital functions at the only volunteer-run botanic gardens in Australia.

In addition to providing the community with a place to visit and relax as they learn about our native environment, the garden importantly partners with other Botanical Gardens and universities across the nation to undertake scientific studies.

Council’s General Manager Jon Gibbons said Council has supported the Friends of the LRBG for more than 20 years.

“In the last 10 years in particular, the Botanic Gardens has grown a great deal,” he said.

“The plants are well established, and much infrastructure has been added, including a Visitor Centre, toilets, BBQ area, picnic tables, signage, decks, seating, bridges and plumbing fixtures.

“It has become a destination for local, interstate and international visitors, and serves as a cultural and recreational venue, attracting theatre performances, as well as regular guided walks.

“Alongside this growth is a need to balance the future development of the Botanic Gardens with maintaining and upgrading what we already have.

“The MOU and Management Plan 2025 – 2029 focus on identifying the Botanic Gardens’ assets, the responsibility for those assets, processes for building new assets and applying for grant funding, as well as work, health and safety procedures on site.”

The Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens opened in 2013, and last year, the group volunteered about 4,800 hours.

Vice President of the Friends Tracey Whitby said the new MoU was an acknowledgement of the hard work of the volunteers.

“The Gardens’ main goals are to engender and facilitate scientific research into rainforest species, to contribute to their conservation and to develop understanding about rainforest ecosystems,” she said.

“They also provide the people of Lismore with many opportunities for reflective appreciation of rainforests.”