To compensate, the university will have to find a way to increase visitor numbers, increase its commercial income from retail outlets and introduce car parking charges.

Earlier this year, the university court endorsed findings of a sustainability review and agreed to make substantial cuts in order to overturn a £1.6 million budget deficit.

Jobs and courses were targets but the review also recommended finding ways to reduce the running costs of the botanic garden.

The court has now accepted a range of measures put forward by the Botanic Garden Working Group, which comprised the university, Dundee City Council, Dundee College and Friends of the Botanic Garden.

Professor Peter Gregory, director of the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Invergowrie, chaired the group.

As part of the package to guarantee the garden’s future, Dundee College will take over the garden’s education programme and an advisory board will be set up.

The university is also investigating the possibility of developing an ecology centre at the site.

There are also plans to improve energy efficiency, while the university also maintains an option to sell surplus land in future and use the proceeds on the garden.

Professor Gregory said, “I am very pleased to report that, after a great deal of work and thought, these recommendations have the support of all the parties.

“I have to thank all members for their contributions, their enthusiasm to find a way forward, and their commitment to finding a mutually acceptable solution that will secure the sustainability of the botanic garden for the future.”

In August, the garden received a boost when it was granted a four-star rating from tourism body VisitScotland for the first time.