National Capital Botanical Gardens - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Background: Situated within the vast campus of the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby, the National Capital Botanical Gardens is one of the prime tourist attractions in the country. André Millar established the gardens in 1971 on some 25 hectares of land and some of her ground breaking work is still evident, most prominently the large area of rainforest, a most unusual sight for normally dry and dusty Port Moresby. The gardens were initially established as a teaching garden for the UPNG Biology Department and also as a nursery to supply plants for the University grounds. After Mrs. Millar's departure in the late 1970's the gardens experienced problems with management and funding and eventually declined from a beautiful garden to a desolate piece of bushland. In 1993 the National Capital District Commission took over the assets of the gardens and established a major redevelopment program. NCBG today: The National Capital Botanical Gardens has a huge collection of plants from all over Papua New Guinea as well as many plants from other parts of the world. These include many palm species, bamboos, heliconias, cordyline, pandanus, native trees and shrubs. Well known for its extensive collection of Papua New Guinea orchid species housed in large greenhouses the gardens have large orchid houses for orchid hybrids producing cut flowers for the own flower shop. There are a number of animals on display, like tree climbing kangaroos, gouria pigeons (click thumbnail to see image of the chick born 14.07.2003) , birds of paradise, cockatoos, lorikeets, parrots and many other birds. The gardens, in a world-class exhibit, are home to one of the largest snake