Huge quantities of endemic plants were sent from Tasmania to feed the European obsession with botany. But the traffic was not one-way.
Even before British settlement in 1803, passing explorers had planted European fruit trees and vegetables to provide “safe” food for future visits - a sensible precaution when the edibility of local plants was unknown. The consequences of introducing foreign plants into pristine finely-balanced ecosystems were not yet understood.
Establishing farms and gardens was a major priority for the first settlers. “Useful” plants were imported - crop seeds, vegetables, fruit trees, vines. The colonists desire for home “comforts” also ensured the rapid introduction of ornamental plants such as roses and geraniums. Many weeds came into Tasmania by accident, their seed mixed in with grain or in the fodder for livestock. Gorse was introduced as a hedge plant; blackberries as wayside refreshment for weary travellers.
The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens began life as the Government Garden, established in 1818 to supply produce for Government House and provide a temporary repository for imported European plants.
During the 1860s acclimatisation societies were set up specifically to introduce “useful” plants and animals into Australia. Economic gain justified scientific endeavour. The natural environment was regarded as an economic resource to be used, manipulated and exploited.
When, in the 1880s, the Government began taking action to protect the environment from human activity it was motivated almost entirely by economic considerations. But the creation of the first nature reserve at Russell Falls also indicated a growing awareness of the need to preserve the environment for its own intrinsic value.
