We are located at 69–73 Crystal Avenue, Pearl Beach, on the NSW Central Coast. There is also an entry from Opal Close near the Pearl Beach tennis courts.
Our Arboretum was established in Pearl Beach in 1976 as a native botanic garden. Local volunteers spent many hours removing weeds, setting out pathways, and planting many of the magnificent trees you see today. It covers 5.5 hectares and is open to the public every day during daylight hours for free, and provides a sanctuary for rare and threatened plant species. We have remnant bushland alongside mature examples of collected and cultivated native tree species considered officially threatened under NSW state legislation. We propagate native seedlings as part of our work to save rare and threatened species of flora.
Types of flora found in the Arboretum include threatened species (50 plants), koala food (30 plants), bush tucker (>50 plants).
Fauna found in the Arboretum include eastern pygmy possum (threatened), powerful owl (threatened), barking owl (threatened), glossy black cockatoo (threatened), red-crowned toadlet (threatened), lyrebirds, bowerbirds, fairy wrens, tawny frogmouth, kookaburra, bandicoots, goannas, snakes, water dragons, swamp wallabies and many more.
The Arboretum hosts a variety of educational events, annual live opera and other music events including multicultural performances and, more recently, rock concerts. It is a popular bush wedding or other life celebration venue. Many photos are taken under the boughs of one of our Angophora costata known as the ‘Wedding Tree’.
We host educational groups, bird watching groups, Probus organisations, passive exercise groups, and those who wish to walk through a natural relatively flat bush area. We can arrange a guided tour. While most of the Arboretum is flat, the tracks are bush tracks. Part of our masterplan is to improve accessibility while keeping the natural bush feel.
The Arboretum is a registered charity managed by a volunteer committee under licence from the Central Coast Council. While many volunteers work in the Arboretum throughout the week on specific projects, we also have an organised working bee on the third Sunday of each month.
For more information please visit https://www.pearlbeacharboretum.org.au/.
