Apr 23, 2026 | News
Last month, Plant Conservation Australia provided a submission to the ACT Government on their Draft Nature Conservation Strategy. In it, we commended the Nature Positive and cross-tenure approach set out by the Strategy, but expressed concerns over some of the timeframes set out, as well as a few instances where ambiguous language and targets could give opportunity for justification of a lack of conservation action. We also argued for this strategy to be fully resourced, pointing to the decline in many indicators for the health of our ecosystems noted in the 2023 State of the Environment Report.
You can read the submission here.
Image: View of Canberra city from Mt Ainslie – Credit: Richie Southerton
Apr 17, 2026 | Events Category, News
Early bird registration for Australasia’s premier plant conservation conference, APCC15, is now open! To register fill in the form here: https://www.anpc.asn.au/apcc15-early-bird-registration-form/
The conference will be held at the Port Douglas Community Hall in the stunning Queensland Wet Tropics from 24-28 August 2026.
With the overall theme ‘Plant Conservation: Culture, Collaboration and Change’ APCC15 will explore these three spheres of native plant recovery through rainforest restoration partnerships, collaborations with Traditional Owner groups, impacts of climate change induced natural disasters, management of threatened species and communities, and biosecurity threats such as Myrtle Rust.
The conference will bring together from across the continent, people researching, working, or volunteering in plant conservation to address the challenges facing Australasia’s spectacular and diverse plant life, through information exchange and sharing best practice approaches. There will also be numerous workshops, social events and field trip options, which you can find more by clicking here to visit the conference webpage.
The early bird discount ends 29 May.
Abstract submission is also open! The themes are: Sustaining Diversity, Restoring Balance, Collaborations and Culture and Biosecurity, Invasive Threats and Post-invasion Challenges
The abstract submission form can be found here (word doc). The submission deadline is 1 May.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Feb 25, 2026 | News
Earlier this month, Plant Conservation Australia put forward a submission on the draft Northern Territory Buffel Grass Weed Management Plan 2026-2036. To summarise, we echoed the concerns of the Central Land Council and the Invasive Species Council, and endorsed the recommendations put forth by the Invasive Species Council in their submission.
You can view the submission here.
Image credit: PIRSA
Jan 29, 2026 | News
We’re pleased to announce Caitlin Griffith as our new Project Manager for Victoria! Caitlin has over 25 years’ experience working across nature conservation, community engagement and leadership. Her background spans on-ground conservation, plant surveys and ecological monitoring, alongside advocacy, citizen science and program development.
Caitlin loves working at the interface of science, community and land management—designing education resources, running workshops with scientists and practitioners, and supporting advocacy for habitat protection. She is passionate about making ecological knowledge accessible and empowering communities to take action for nature.
Caitlin has always had a passion for watching wildflowers emerge with a particular love for the showy pea flowers and orchids.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Biology and Ecology and a Graduate Certificate in Social Ecology.
Caitlin will be coordinating two one-day workshops on threatened flora conservation – one in Horsham on Wednesday 19 August and one in Orbost on Wednesday 2 September 2026 – as well as a two-day Victorian threatened flora conservation conference planned for Melbourne in November, as part of the “Preventing the extinction of Victoria’s threatened flora” project.
Jan 7, 2026 | News
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) have awarded their 2025 Australian Biosecurity Awards – Environmental Biosecurity to Dr Geoff Pegg and Aj Perkins. Geoff is Senior Principal Forest Pathologist Queensland Department of Primary Industries, and Aj is Senior Project Officer, Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (NSW). Together they have collaborated and partnered with a wide variety of stakeholders on an innovative 2-year program which builds capacity to protect culturally significant species from the threat from introduced pests and diseases, including Myrtle Rust. The program included developing and delivering training modules for Indigenous Rangers and land managers to improve their ability to spot and report biosecurity threats. They also built a groundbreaking trans-Tasman partnership in Indigenous forest health and environmental biosecurity with Māori custodians and scientists from New Zealand (Aotearoa).
The success of the program has meant that it has been extended through to 2029.
The program also produced the fantastic Roots for Resilience video which tells the story of the importance of environmental biosecurity for culture, and highlights the need for collective action. It can be found here: https://youtu.be/d2M18ApA-uA?si=sMme1yzTERJrfXrG
Read the DAFF article about the award and Geoff and Aj’s work here: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/news/aba-geoff-pegg-aj-perkins
