Since 2004 the Friends have received tax-deductible donations and directed the funds to projects in the Gardens.
Until January 2024, tax-deductible donations were required to be made through a special 'Public Fund' that was limited in how the funds could be spent. Deductible Gift Recipient status now applies to the Friends of the ANBG itself. Tax deductions are available for donations over $2 made through the Friends' gift fund.
The donations received through the Public Fund supported the following projects, listed here in order from the most recent to the first in 2007.
- Video of ANBG conservation activities.
- Revegetation of the East Core Precinct following redevelopment of the café and lawn area.
- Sponsorship of keynote speaker at the 2020 Australasian Seed Science Conference (cancelled because of COVID but speaker gave presentations in Perth and Melbourne).
- Interpretative signage for Banksia Garden which was completed in 2020.
- Seed Bank exhibition.
- X-ray micro-graphic assessment of legacy collections of the National Seed Bank. Employment of contract technical officer to conduct x-ray screening of species in legacy collections - many have too few seeds to allow standard germination/viability tests.
- Purchase of new equipment to improve capacity and outputs of Seedbank volunteers - 2 stereo microscopes, a hygropalm moisture reader, a 4-digit analytical balance.
- Support to help ensure the long term conservation of Macadamia jansenii by securing genetically representative ex-situ insurance populations. Funds provided for assistance with propagation, freight, promotion and interpretation of the collection in the ANBG.
- Support for Paperbark Treehouse construction and interpretation.
- Funding for the digitisation of lichen type specimens held at the CANBR cryptogam herbarium.
- Support for ANBG trip to collect high altitude climate change threatened tropical rainforest flora in far North Queensland.
- Aboriginal Plant Use Trail signage and brochure. The Trail consists of signs with line drawings for 28 plants, referring to indigenous publications and linking with information and items in the National Museum. Read more.
- Purchase of seed counting equipment for the Seed Bank.
- Purchase of a freezer for seed storage at the Seed Bank.
- Termite Mound model in the Red Centre Garden. This was installed in the Story Hub of the new garden in the second half of 2013. It is a life-sized model of a termite mound and tells the story of the ecological role termites play in nutrient cycling in the Red Centre. Their red sand nests are an iconic feature of the Central Australian landscape.
- Eucalypt Discovery Walk, jointly financed by Eucalypt Australia (previously the Bjarne K Dahl Trust) and the Public Fund. This is a self-guided walk featuring 22 iconic eucalypts growing in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Each of the 22 trees has an attractive and informative sign describing key features of that species. A printed brochure includes a map of the walking route and more information about eucalypts.
- Environmental Monitoring Stations to demonstrate different microclimates within the Gardens.
- Australian Lichen website, which may be found on the Gardens’ website at https://www.anbg.gov.au/lichen/index.html. This was developed by Heino Lepp, Honorary Associate in the Gardens' Cryptogam Herbarium.
- The first project to be financed from the Fund was an architect-designed shelter adjacent to the Rock Garden Lawn (photo top right). It was opened in March 2007 by Her Excellency Mrs Marlena Jeffery, the then Patron of the Friends.
All Public Fund projects, by year and with costs, are included in the list of projects on this website that the Friends have supported financially.
We invite all who admire and enjoy the Gardens to support its development by donating to the Friends. Donors are issued with an official receipt which clearly shows that their donation is tax deductible.