TO mark Botanic Gardens Week, the Friends of the North Coast Regional Botanic Garden in Coffs Harbour are launching a public portal connected to a digital map of more than 6,000 plants.
Called Hortis, the program enables visitors to search the garden’s Living Plants Collection.
Users can read about a plant and then find it in the garden using their mobile phone.
A team of volunteers has been methodically checking all the plants listed on the database and recording their exact location in the garden on a digital map using GPS technology.
“The Botanic Garden is much more than just a beautiful parkland of plants,” said Graham Tupper, President of the Friends of the Botanic Garden.
“It is also a curated collection of plant diversity, including rare and endangered species, which is vital to scientific research and conservation.
“The Living Plants Collection database is the result of years of work by a dedicated team of garden volunteers led by database coordinator Rhonda Sorensen.
“The Friends of the Garden want the community and local schools to have easy access to this living library of plant biodiversity at the heart of Coffs Harbour.”
The Living Plants database is also an essential tool for supporting the Botanic Garden’s important conservation role and its work in the plant nursery, herbarium and seed bank, which is conducted by volunteers in collaboration with the City of Coffs Harbour.
Free guided walks are offered to visitors during Botanic Gardens Week from Monday 18 May to Sunday 24 May to learn more about the Living Plant Collection and how to use Hortis in the garden.
Registration via the garden website is required: coffsbotanicgarden.com.au.
By Andrea FERRARI
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