Bruce Lindenmayer Memorial Lecture Series

The Bruce Lindenmayer Memorial Lecture series was established in 2025 and will run for about 10 years, thanks to a generous bequest to the Friends of the ANBG, who are honoured to be organising the lecture series on behalf of the Lindenmayer family.

Who was Bruce Lindenmayer?

Bruce Lindenmayer OAM (1936-2022) was a highly dedicated environmentalist, conservationist and ornithologist, who was a member of the Friends of the ANBG for fourteen years.

He was a long-time resident of Canberra (moving here in 1969) and loved the region, its forests and wetlands, and its birds and plants. He treasured ‘The Bush Capital’ and dedicated countless hours of work, and significant donations during his life, to preserving and enhancing the character of the city where we are privileged to live.

Bruce was President of the Canberra Ornithologists Group (and led innumerable field walks in the Brindabellas and elsewhere). He was instrumental in having key areas of bushland conserved around the ACT, including Mulligans Flat and Bluett’s Block (near Denman-Prospect). In many respects, he was a conservation visionary, recognising that these precious areas were at risk of being lost to expanding urban development, often decades before those threats began to be realised. These special places are conserved today because, together with his many friends and colleagues, he wrote countless submissions and worked tirelessly to ensure they were not lost.

One of Bruce’s favourite places in Canberra was the ANBG. He loved to birdwatch there, and his daughter Annie was married in the Gardens. It was also far and away his favourite place for lunch – an almost weekly event with David before a walk to check out what was flowering and what birds were calling. Bruce often commented about the role of the Gardens in protecting so many of the extraordinary native plants that he loved and providing shelter for native birdlife he cherished.

It is fitting that part of Bruce Lindenmayer’s estate includes a bequest to the Friends of the ANBG. We know that he would be thrilled to see such an extraordinary place thriving and giving so many people pleasure in connecting with this nation’s environment.

David Lindenmayer and Phillip Lindenmayer