Project funded via the Global Botanic Garden Fund by The Botanist.

Project completed: 2021

The Native Medicinal Plant Sanctuary aims to cultivate and preserve native medicinal, edible, and threatened plant species, and create a public living seed bank. They hope to raise awareness in visitors of the deep relationship local wild plants have with humans, recognise the First Nations people who have carried this knowledge for thousands of years, and preserve the future of these plants by saving their seeds.

With the help of staff and volunteers, the garden was created, along with signs identifying each plant and a map of threatened/sacred species, crediting traditional knowledge.

Education is a powerful tool in the ongoing battle to conserve threatened ecosystems. With their inclusion of local wild, threatened, and sacred plants in the Innisfree Farm garden, this project will hopefully raise awareness of their value and recognise their role in the local culture.

By creating a safe space for learning and saving seeds to share, the plant sanctuary will help connect more people with the ecosystems in the region, and encourage the hundreds of visitors each year to take steps forward in caring for their land.