Landscape of the Acton Campus
The Acton Campus is renowned for its landscape setting, open spaces and ‘park like’ nature. The University maintains over 10,000 trees, including over 500 considered to be of exceptional significance because of their age, history or species and over 300 remnant trees predating European occupation of the area. There are also many commemorative and memorial trees scattered across the campus and trees that pre-date European settlement in the 1820s. These trees are largely remnants of the savannah woodland and grasslands which featured along Acton Ridge and the site of the Acton Campus. The original trees include five species: Yellow Box (Eucalyptus melliodora), Blakely’s Red Gum (Eucalyptus blakelyi), Apple Box (Eucalyptus bridgesiana), Brittle Gum (Eucalyptus manifera) and Candle Bark (Eucalyptus rubida).
Native and exotic trees were planted following European settlement and the planting from the 1910s and 20s is still prominent. Many early plantings were selected by Thomas Charles Weston, officer in charge of the afforestation of the capital. Weston established a nursery at Acton near Old Canberra House, where he experimented with species and hybrids to assess the best trees for the area (Godden Mackay Logan Heritage Consultants 2012). His selection included native species as well as exotic deciduous and coniferous trees.
Sullivans Creek is the north-south link through the campus, running from North Oval to Lake Burley Griffin. It is important as a biodiversity corridor, as a water course and for cultural reasons. Sullivans Creek and its floodplain were traditionally part of a well utilised landscape, being used as a meeting place and trading zone by the Indigenous people of the Canberra area.
The Campus also hosts many animal species and has become an important refuge for water-bird and native fauna, particularly around Sullivans Creek and the area towards Lake Burley Griffin. Some of the most common species found on the Campus include water dragons, water rats, bats, echidnas and brush-tailed possums. Kangaroos and flying foxes are also sometimes seen. Before the development of the Campus, the Acton area was home to large numbers of kangaroos, wallabies, quolls and dingos.
References
Godden Mackay Logan Heritage Consultants 2012, ANU Heritage Study Acton Campus. Volume 1: Heritage Study,
Dexter, D 1991, The ANU Campus, Australian National University Press, Canberra.
Banks, J & Gaardboe, M 1996, Building and Landscapes: the Australian National University, Canberra, ANU Divisions of Facilities and Services and Public Affairs, Canberra.
