8 Hectares of Taipei Nursery (today’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute) was located in the South West of Taipei city, half a kilometre away from the President Palace, in the South of Bo Ai Road. Dating back to A.D.1896, Taiwan was then under Japanese occupation. The Regenerative and Products Bureau of the Governor General's Office was in charged with less than 5 hectares and started a nursery. Subsequently, an expansion was undertaken and the site area reached 15 hectares. One part of the land was used to nurture seedlings; the rest was divided into several areas to conserve seedlings and cultivate saplings. Plants from Japan and Taiwan were planted in different gardens with to fulfil various functions including identification, research and education.
 
In 1921, the Central Research Institute was established to undertake the responsibility for forest management and to undertake a survey of forest resources under the Forestry Division's assignment. On the site of the Institute's original Taipei Nursery, the Taipei Botanical Garden was established. The Taipei Botanical Garden maintained routine work and sent collectors to America, Europe, Australia, Africa and South East Asia to collect seeds to plant in Taipei Botanical Garden. Around 1930, about half of 1,120 species found in Taipei Botanical Garden were from overseas which constitutes a great educational effort in the field of biology and science in general. Unfortunately, during World War II, construction in the Garden was interrupted and the forest died due to lake of care. After retrocession, under the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute's management, with a strong work effort and healthy financial backing, Taipei Botanical Garden came back to life and expanded. So far, Taipei Botanical Garden has expanded to the extent that its living collection is over 1,500 species.