The 100 Forests of Canberra
In one of the most remarkable demonstrations of foresight ever to be shown by the Australian government, we here in Canberra are lucky enough to be home to what will one day be an international tourist attraction – the new Australia National Arboretum. They held a ‘Festival of the Forest’ open day on 14th March to show us how progress is coming and what we can look forward to when the trees have grown.
In January 2003, Canberra was ravaged by one of the worst firestorms to hit a city in our nation’s history. A fire that started from lightening strikes deep in Namadgi National park (far east of Canberra) joined with powerful winds that sent it over the nearby Brindabellas and plunged into the heart of the city, where over 500 homes were destroyed and 4 lives were lost. It was called a ‘firestorm’ as the heat was so intense that it created its own winds, becoming self-propelling, and fire ‘rained’ down on the Canberra suburbs in the form of burning leaves and debris, starting more spot fires.
Canberra Fires - The Brindabellas alight on 18 Jan 2003 (Photo: TD 021 wikipedia.org)
All that remained of the once verdant pine plantations along Canberra’s western side were bare, ash-covered hills. Science also took a large blow as our renowned Mt Stromlo Observatory was lost. Ugliness abounded. There was much discussion as to what to do with our and almost a year later, the state government agreed to preserve the area as a national arboretum. They held a competition for design ideas and in mid 2005, Taylor Cullity Lethlean w. Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects won the competition with their plan for 100 Forests 100 Gardens.
100 Forests 100 Gardens
The Master Plan
Their idea was to recreate 100 different types of forest from all over the world. There is a focus on endangered species and as such, the Australian National arboretum will be home to the largest collection of Wollemi pines (Wollemia nobilis) anywhere in existence. Other rare, endangered or species I’m just particularly excited about include:
- Cupressus atlantica – Morrocan Cyprus
- Quercus engelmanii – Mesa Oak
- Eucalyptus benthamii – Camden White Gum
- Ginko biloba – Maidenhair Tree
- Prunus x yedoensis – Yoshino Cherry
- Sequoiadendron giganteum – Giant Californian Sequoia
- Cercis siliquastrum – Judas Tree
- Nyssa sylvatica – Black Tupelo
- Cotinus grace – Purple Leafed Smokebush
- Aesculus hippocastanum – Horse -Chestnut
- Araucaria araucana – Monkey Puzzle
- Magnolia grandiflora – Southern Magnolia
- Liquidambar orientalis – Oriental Sweet Gum
and many more. 100 in fact.
Trees of the Arboretum
See here for more photos of the design.
Needless to say the existing trees are still very small.
Wollemi Pines
Mini Sequoia
Early plantings
Mesa Oaks
Try, though, if you can to imagine the view from the lake looking up at an ever-changing tapestry in Autumn as the leaves change. Or winter for the cherry blossom. Or spring for the fresh new growth. In summer, it will simply be a blessed relief to have such a wonderful variety of trees to shelter beneath to escape the heat of the day.
So all you need to do is add Canberra to your next outback adventure in 3 or 4 years time and you’ll get to see some of the rarest forests of the world all in one place! Great, isn’t it?
View over Lake Burley Griffin and the city
All photos courtesy of the ACT Government and Friends of the Canberra International Arboretum and Gardens, Inc.
11 Responses to “The 100 Forests of Canberra”
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Thanks for sharing this with us Karly, it is such a wonderful project and will be just amazing in years to come. We’ve been meaning to head back to Canberra for a visit, by the time we get there some progress will probably have been made on the growth of those trees!
Great post Karly. My parents were living in Canberra during that fire and were one of the fortunate ones.
We’re heading over your way in October this year – probably a little early to enjoy the magnificence of the project but still worth seeing its magnitude.
Kudos!
aloha Karly
what an exciting project and to be at the start of this is fanatastic…maybe by the time i get to visit in your world it will be a real forest…thanks for sharing this with me
Interesting post. Our oldest daughter lives in Southern California and every year the fires seem to get worse. Kudos to the people behind the reforestation. jim
Now this makes me proud … what a fabulous idea for our capital! After the destruction brought about by those firestorms of ’03, it’s terrific to see what’s coming up in the future. This will definitely be on my ‘to see’ list … I’m blown away by the sheer extent of the idea … all those marvellous specimens! I know how fabulous Canberra already looks in the Autumn … I’m just imagining how amazing it will look when this project is completed. Think I’ll definitely be down that way Autumn 2015!
How exciting to see such a wonderful action taken to help heal the scar that fire leaves. As a native Californian, I have seen my share of fires and the damage that they inflict. I do hope to visit Australia someday and can only imagine how beautiful the trees will be at the Arboretum.
Thanks everyone – I think its going to be such a spectacular feature and I’m thrilled to hear you all agree!
Wow, amazing! What a beautiful idea. It really seems to balance out some of the sadness and destruction of the fires. Thanks for sharing!
Forest is very much a replica of what business all about. The need to be strong to stay relevant. And at the same time, there is a need to maintain a number of good companions for support, a much needed large pool of friends and customers to buy the product. Forest will inch towards equilibrium; a balanced state, somewhere along the way.
A commendable EFFORT indeed!
~bangchik
It is heart breaking to see such destruction. I am glad to hear news about the Arboretum. It is like a rebirth during this proccess of rebuilding the natural landscape.
I finished typing a comment just now but I think it didn’t go through. This is a great idea and good news to know that something positive is being done to this area.