On January 18, South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) and BHP Billiton China jointly held the opening ceremony of Australian Garden in SCBG. Academicians of Australian Academy of Sciences Profs. Andrew Smith and Sue Serjeantson, deputy director of Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh Prof. Dave Paterson, staff members of Life Science and Biological Technology Bureau and International Cooperation Bureau of CAS, the member of the Party Group Leadership Guangzhou Branch of Chinese Academy of Science Prof. GENG Ansong, deputy directors of SCGB Prof. REN Hai and WEI Ping, Vice President of BHP Billiton China Dr. XU Feng, were presented at the opening ceremony which was attended by around 140 audiences, including dozens of students from middle schools in Guangzhou.
The ceremony was chaired by Dr. Lü Jianzhong from BHP Billiton. On the behalf of director of SCBG Prof. HUANG Hongwen and all the staff of SCBG, Dr. Ren firstly made a speech to welcome all the guests to attend the opening ceremony, and then introduced the Australian Garden briefly. Subsequently, Dr. Geng, Dr. Xu, and Prof. Smith gave speeches, respectively, to congratulate that the Australian Garden was completed in time and open successfully.
After the ceremony, Prof. Smith gave a popular science lecture about the Australian humanities and ecology to the middle students and guests. He used the vivid words to introduce the natural environment, resource of animals and plants, and mutual relationship among human being, biology and environment. The students were attracted by the interesting lecture and actively answered various questions asked by Prof. Smith. Subsequently, officers and guests visited the Australian Garden, other special collection gardens and the Public Education & Information Center.
The Australian Garden was established under the proposal of CAS President LU Yongxiang. He has much concerned about the design and construction of the garden. The garden, designed by the Australian botanists and landscape designers, is one of the co-construction projects by CAS, Guangdong Province and Guangzhou City. Supported by the Australia and BHP Billiton, China, the garden occupying an area of some 17000 m2 was finished on schedule after nearly two-year construction. This garden is the first special garden in China for the purpose of introducing, raising and conserving Australian plants, in which there is Australian national flower - Acacia pycnantha, and more than other 150 rare Australian plant species. The garden is not only a platform for Chinese scientists to research exotic plants, but also a base for visitors to know the Australian natural environment, custom and culture.