Orchid Conservation Tour

Useful Information

Event dates

02 September - 18 September 2025
Price

$35 per person

Bookings essential
Location

Meet 10 minutes before your booked session time at the Visitor Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne
Duration

1 hr
Session Times

10:45am
12:00pm

Tue 2, 9, 16 Sep
Thu 4, 11, 18 Sep

9:30am
10:45am
12:00pm
1:30pm
2:45pm

Sat 6 Sep
Accessibility

The shadehouses are not wheelchair-accessible. For any specific access questions, please contact the team at: rbg@rbg.vic.gov.au

Orchid Conservation Tour

Tuesday 2nd September - Thursday 18th September 2025

See the world’s largest endangered orchid rewilding program with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Orchid Conservation Program shadehouses.

Orchids are among our most beautiful and intriguing native wildflowers, with Victoria home to over 400 species, most of which grow nowhere else in the world. Sadly, however, half of our native orchid species are threatened with extinction in the wild.

The RBGV Orchid Conservation Program grows threatened orchids and plants them back out into the bush to create new wild populations and reduce their risk of extinction. Underpinning this work, the Program undertakes cutting-edge scientific research on all aspects of orchid ecology, including on pollination, symbiotic fungi, propagation methods, and reintroduction science.

We aim to prevent future orchid extinctions by:

Storing a genetically diverse collection of seed and symbiotic fungi
Growing suitable numbers of our threatened orchids for reintroductions
Reintroducing these species to protected public and private land, where the appropriate vegetation, climate and insect pollinators are present.

Back by popular demand, the nurseries of the RBGV Orchid Conservation Program are being opened to the public to showcase endangered orchids up close. Our world-leading team will explain the important work and intricate science behind this exemplary conservation program. You will have the chance to photograph critically endangered species rarely seen in the wild.

Please note that the minimum age of attendees on this tour is 12 years old, and that the shadehouses are not suitable for anyone requiring the use of mobility aids such as wheelchairs and walking frames.