New England Online > Culture & Society > Natural Culture
Natural Culture
New Englanders have a love of nature and the outdoors in general, which they call Natural Culture. Aside from their love of sport and human recreation, a love of things that grow and live motivate people to explore, view, study and conserve the natural environment of the land they live in. Whilst any New Englander with a few square feet or dirt will soon turn it into a garden, what people really crave is the natural environment and the many animal and plant species that live in it.
There are a large number of gardens and parks open to public seven days a week. The biggest and most popular gardens are the New England National Botanic Gardens in Dangarsleigh and Coffs Harbour. The gardens provide an enjoyable place to visit, whilst also giving an insight into many of the most interesting and exotic plants in New England. The National Arboretum in Armidale is also a popular city retreat for many, and also provides a large amount of information on trees and shrub species from New England and abroad. Private gardens are also popular, and are viewable through events such as the National Garden Festival held every spring and autumn.
A love of wild animals means that there are also a good number of zoos and animal parks dotted around the country. The Royal New England Zoological Gardens in Armidale is the largest, but there are many smaller zoos and wildlife sanctuaries across the nation. The biggest of these include the Coffs Harbour Zoo and the Hastings Valley Zoo in Wauchope. Sanctuaries offer a less diverse range of animals, and often focus on a particular class or order of species. But unlike zoos, they allow a people greater level of participation and interaction with the animals.
Plant Parks & Gardens
It is quite common for a New Englander to spend a couple of hours every few months (generally once a season for many people) in one of the many gardens and parks. Families will take walks, often as a tour, as an educational experience for the children. Some of the best gardens are listed below.
New England National Botanic Gardens – Also known as the NENBG, the gardens established in Dangarsleigh and Coffs Harbour in 2016. Covering some one hundred acres, these are the largest gardens in New England. The gardens only feature plants that are native to New England and the areas of Australia immediately adjacent to the border. The Dangarsleigh gardens are the largest part of the NENBG, and feature many native species from temperate regions of New England. The Coffs Harbour gardens are much older, and were first established in the 1980s. They feature many plants from the sub-tropical regions of New England.
New England National Arboretum and Gardens - Located in the Armidale suburb of Soudan Heights, the park was first established as the Armidale Bicentennial Arboretum in 1988. The park, usually known as the NENAG, is much smaller than the NENBG, but still draws large crowds every day. In 2016, it was renamed and expanded to include trees and gardens from around the world. The concept of a nationally recognised arboretum was taken forward by the government as way of complimenting the National Botanic Gardens by providing a space for non-native plant species to be grown as a recreational and scientific asset.
Animal Parks and Reserves
Zoos and sanctuaries make up an important part of the natural culture of New England. Like the various plant parks, New Englanders will often visit zoos and sanctuaries to enjoy the variety of animal species found here and overseas. New England's zoos tend to be very park like, giving animals a large amount of space to roam around and therefore be likely to act as they would in the wild. Old style zoos, with cages and bars, are not tolerated.
Royal New England Zoological Gardens - The largest zoo in New England, the RNEZG is spread over two hundred acres and is located in the Armidale suburb of Laureldale. Founded in 2019, the zoo features a large section of rare and endangered wildlife for Australia and New England. The zoo also has a large collection of animals from overseas, with lions, monkeys, elephant and giraffe being the most popular with visitors. The New England National University operates the New England Institute of Zoology at the RNEZG which is the largest publicly funded zoological research facility in the southern hemisphere.
Hastings Valley Zoo - The second largest zoo in New England, the HVZ, as it often known, is spread over one and fifty acres and is located in the Timbertown Forest Park near Wauchope. The Zoo was founded in 2037 by New England's richest man, Sir Ian Greig as a way of offering a facility to display and research a diverse range forest animals from Australia and overseas. Popular animals include chimpanzee, monkeys, jaguar, tigers, cassowary, parrots, cockatoos, frogs, lizards and snakes. The Hastings Zoo also includes the largest private research facility in New England for zoologists to study animals and their behaviours.
