Visitors flock to new Arboretum - ABC Online

Posted March 19, 2013 16:59:03

More than 42,000 people have visited Canberra's National Arboretum in the first month since it opened.

Around 15,000 people flocked to the Arboretum's open day in February and the ACT Government says there has been a steady stream of visitors since.

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says she is especially pleased by the numbers.

"I think one of the risks we had with the Arboretum once it was opened was that we were going to have these big days and then we weren't sure what would happen in terms of visitor numbers," she said.

"But we're really pleased. It's not showing any signs of seeing those figures reduce."

Ms Gallagher says visitors have come from as far away as France and Brazil.

"I think internationally the attraction is that people are being able to visit an arboretum at the beginning of its development which is unusual," she said.

"I mean many of the established arboreta across the world have been in place for a couple of hundred years and it is a unique experience to watch the early stages of an arboretum and that's certainly some of the feedback we're getting."

The site is home to more than 40,000 trees across 100 forests.

Topics: states-and-territories, act, canberra-2600