The Jervis Bay Annex - The Booderee Botanic Gardens

ANBG JB Annexe in 1995 | History of Annexe

The Australian National Botanic Gardens’ Jervis Bay Annexe was situated in the Jervis Bay Territory, an area of 7400 ha (18 500 ac) and was acquired from New South Wales in 1915.

The Annexe was established on what was previously a dairy farm called ' Bherwerre', owned by Octavius Charles Beale and managed by the Leslie family at one time.

Development of the site as a botanic gardens started in 1951 when the area was selected as the frost free annex of the Australian National Botanic Garden and was called the Jervis Bay Botanic Gardens.

Since the early days of the Gardens, local Koori people from the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community have worked on the site, a tradition which is now into its third generation. Many of the paths, rock walls, garden beds and plantings were developed by these earlier generations of staff.

The local Koori community at Wreck Bay successfully acquired the ownership of the Gardens, and the park, in 1995, and with the Director of National Parks, now jointly manage the Gardens for the enjoyment of everyone. To reflect the Aboriginal ownership of the Gardens the name was changed to Booderee Botanic Gardens in 1997.

In 2000 the Gardens ceased to be an annex of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, however a close working relationship with the Gardens' staff continues. The collections policy now focuses on the Aboriginal use of plants, as well as the flora of south eastern Australia's coastal environments. The computer records of plants in the Booderee Botanic Gardens are still maintained on the ANBG's database.

For more information about the Booderee Botanic Gardens and Booderee National Park visit the Booderee website

- Webpage content from 1995 when still an Annexe of ANBG

- History of the Jervis Bay Annexe to ANBG, with chronology