National Arboretum Canberra

The National Arboretum Canberra was established in 2003 in response to the catastrophic Canberra bushfires that destroyed pine plantations on the western edge of the capital. Rather than replant the lost commercial forests, the federal and ACT governments commissioned a master plan from Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects and Taylor Cullity Lethlean Landscape Architects to create a 250 hectare arboretum of rare and threatened tree species from around the world.

The arboretum opened to the public in 2013 after a decade of progressive planting. It now contains 94 separate forests representing tree species from every continent except Antarctica. Each forest contains around 60 to 80 trees of a single species. The collection is heavily weighted toward rare and endangered species and includes globally significant collections of cork oak, dawn redwood, monkey puzzle, sequoia and the prehistoric Wollemi pine, a species discovered in 1994 in the Blue Mountains and previously known only from 65 million year old fossils.

The Village Centre is the main visitor hub, designed by Tonkin Zulaikha Greer with a curved timber and steel roof inspired by the eucalyptus canopy. It contains a cafe, the Visitor Information Centre, a function space, and the Pod Playground, an outdoor play area built around oversized acorn and banksia seed pods that has become one of the most popular family attractions in the capital.

The Bonsai and Penjing Collection housed inside the visitor centre is the largest public bonsai collection in the southern hemisphere and includes specimens up to 200 years old. The Himalayan Cedar Forest, planted in 1916 from seeds collected in the Indian Himalayas, is the oldest forest on the site and pre-dates the rest of the arboretum by almost a century.

The arboretum is at its best in spring (September to November) when the deciduous forests are in fresh leaf and the cherry, magnolia and crepe myrtle plantings are flowering. Autumn delivers a strong colour show across the European forests. Winter mornings can be misty and dramatic, especially around the cork oak and pine forests. Entry is free year round.