[Nhcoll-l] National Herbarium of NSW (NSW): future relocation announcement

[Shelley James]

To the Herbarium and Botanical Research Community,

We are very pleased to let you know that the NSW Government has announced a $60 million investment this week for a new facility, the Centre of Innovation in Plant Sciences, which will house the more than 1.4 million item botanical collection of the National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW).

This project will see a purpose-built, state-of-the-art facility created to protect our nationally and internationally significant collection including specimens dating back to those collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on James Cook's voyage on the Endeavour in 1770. Our collection has recently been valued at $200 million so it is imperative we have a facility that protects and safeguards this collection for our future generations. You can read more about the project on our blog here<https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/stories/2018/$60-million-win-for-our-vital-botanic-sciences>.

The new facility is to be based in Western Sydney at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan next to our PlantBank facility.

The preparation and relocation of the collections to the new facility will have a substantial impact on the operations of the Herbarium until the end of 2021.

Please note the following dates:

  *   Access to the Herbarium collections, including the actioning of loan requests and visitors, will be restricted beginning January 2019.
  *   Visitors will not be able to be accommodated from July 1, 2019.
  *   Requests for loans, images, and destructive sampling after July 2019 will not be actioned and we recommend you resubmit your request early in 2022.

It is likely that the preparation of the collection will potentially include the complete digitization of the botanical collections which may be made available online during the closure of the Herbarium.

NSW would appreciate the immediate return of any outstanding loan materials for processing and imaging at this time. Please contact us via herbarium.nsw at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au<mailto:herbarium.nsw at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au> for critical shipping and Australian Biosecurity information.

We greatly appreciate the inconvenience of not providing physical access to the collections during this process, but we firmly believe the outcome of the relocation and the digitization effort will be beneficial for the collections and the botanical community at large.

Specific requests for visitation or possibility of materials being loaned should be sent to the Collections Manager, Dr Shelley James, as soon as possible to ensure that we can assess and accommodate ongoing research needs. You can contact her via shelley.james at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au<mailto:shelley.james at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au>.

With kind regards,


Dr Brett Summerell
Director, Science and Conservation

Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands
T (02) 9231 8113 (Sydney); (02) 4634 7972 (Annan) | M 0419 243 613
E brett.summerell at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au<mailto:brett.summerell at rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au>
Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

Twitter: @BrettSumm
Instagram: @BrettSumm

President, Australasian Plant Pathology Society
Adjunct Professor, University of Sydney
Adjunct Professor, Kansas State University

[New-signature-Vital-science-final-2]

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