The Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens (LRBG) runs guided walks every fourth Sunday at 2pm for people to look at, and learn about, the amazing range of range of local plants from the region.
The gardens officially opened ten years ago in 2013, however, planting started on the former dump site in 2002.
‘Not far from the garden, there is an original reserve, the Wilsons Park Reserve. When they were looking to plant here they did an audit of all the plants there and recreated what had been here from that in a section behind the centre,’ explained President of the Friends LRBG, Tracey Whitby.
‘They had no other indication of the types of plants and trees that would have been here because it was all bare and farmed.
‘So behind our centre there is an area that has been recreated based on the Wilsons Park Reserve. All the plants have labels and Tim who does that walk has lots of stories about the plants used by Aboriginal people.’
Coming up
The next walk will be on 25 June at 2pm and is the ‘Useful Plants Garden’ with Ken. The Useful Plants Garden features rainforest plants which are used for medicine, food, tools and shelter by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years and by white settlers since their arrival. The one-hour walk is unpaved and has a slight incline. Meet at the Visitor’s Centre at 1.45pm for a 2pm start.
‘Most of our guides work full time so they primarily do the walks on weekends. We got them trained just before lockdown so they were champing at the bit to get the guided walks up and running after lockdown,’ said Tracey.
Guided walks are also available to small groups at other times.
‘People are able to have guided walks at any time,’ said Tracey.
‘For example, they can book to have two families or a group of six for a tour. They just need to arrange the tour in advance.’
Hoop Pine walk
On 30 July there will be the Hoop Pine Forest Walk with Marama.
‘The Hoop Pine holds a special place in the local rainforest and Big Scrub,’ said Tracey.
‘You can find out about its origins and features as you wander through our beautiful forest.’
Bookings essential
For all walks meet at the Visitor’s Centre at 1.45pm for a 2pm start. Each walk is $5 per adult, children are free and it includes afternoon tea (or coffee) with homemade cakes.
There are no card facilities so please bring cash on the day. Wear a hat and sturdy shoes. Booking at: [email protected] or text or phone 0450 596 705.
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