Dr Robert BodenPrint Page

The plaque commemorates the first Director of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Dr Robert Boden (1935 - 2009)

In 1979 Robert was appointed Director of the National Botanic Gardens later the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and held this position until 1989 when he left the Australian Public Service and established a consultancy in conservation and natural resource management. While working in Parks and Gardens in the late 1950s and 1960s Robert had assisted Dr Erwin Gauba and others in collecting living material and herbarium specimens for the Gardens therefore to return as director was a privilege and challenge.

When asked to indicate the most significant administrative events for the long term future of the gardens during his period as Director, he indicated the decision, in the context of self-government for the ACT, for the Gardens including the extension south of Black Mtn Drive to become national rather than territorial responsibility. The most significant functional event was for the Gardens to add a conservation biology role to its existing functions of horticulture, education and interpretation and botanical science.

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