Filming has begun for our upcoming video on the ‘safe custody for Native Guava’ project. This scene was captured at one of our project partner sites, the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens in northern NSW. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government. Image by Chantelle Doyle
From Nov 2022 – April 2023 we are raising funds for our work on Myrtle Rust. Myrtle Rust infects hundreds of species in the Myrtaceae family, which includes our bottlebrushes, paperbarks, lilly pillies, and eucalypts. Since this disease was introduced to Australia in 2010, 5 native plants have jumped straight to the ‘Critically Endangered’ category as a direct result of the disease, and are faced with extinction in the wild in the very near future. A further 20 – 30 Australian native species are known, or suspected, to also be in decline, and over 300 more are known to be susceptible to a lesser degree. This number will rise.
We are raising funds to:
Please help us take our fight against Myrtle Rust to the next level and donate now. Our Myrtle Rust team are happy to discuss our work with prospective donors. Please contact us at myrtlerust@anpc.asn.au
Image below: Dead Native Guava trees at Bongil Bongil National Park, NSW, 2013, only three years after the arrival of Myrtle Rust. In recent surveys in NSW and QLD, no adult trees remain of this once common rainforest plant. Credit Peter Entwistle
This spring, partners in our collaborative project to secure Safe Custody for Native Guava received the first plants to add to their living collections. Five advanced Rhodomyrtus psidioides plants were sent from the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan to Lismore Rainforest Botanic Garden (NSW), the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah (NSW), the Australian National Botanic Garden (ACT), and Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden (Victoria). Plants were also added to the existing collection of these species at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan.
Action to conserve Native Guava was rated as an emergency priority in the Myrtle Rust in Australia National Action Plan. Our current collaborative project helps meet the Germplasm Capture objective which is a very high priority in the NAP. This pilot project aims to show what is possible with collaborative action on germplasm capture. We also aim to understand the workflow and take any learnings into similar future ex situ conservation projects on emergency priority species.This project received grant funding from the Australian Government.
Image: Dr Zoe Knapp and Toby Golson with critically endangered Rhodomyrtus psidioides (Native Guava) planted at the Australian National Botanic Garden. Credit: Amelia Martyn Yenson.
| We held our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16 November 2022 over Zoom and in person at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Our president, Tony Auld, presented his President’s Report which can be read here. We said thank you and farewell to our committee member Meredith Cosgrove who finished her term. We welcomed Leonie Monks to the ANPC Committee and welcomed back Linda Broadhurst, Andrew Fairney, Melissa Millar and Singarayer Florentine who re-nominated for another 2 years as Ordinary Members. Dr Geoff Pegg, our guest speaker, gave an insightful talk on the results of the Fire and Rust project which looked at the impact of Myrtle rust on post fire regeneration. You can watch his presentation here. We also had time at the conclusion of the meeting to play the new film ‘Myrtle Rust – the silent killer’. |
| Did you know that the Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides) plants in our current project have been studied by the ReCER team to understand their genetic diversity? This allows us to check whether the ex situ populations adequately capture the diversity present in the wild populations – and the good news is that they do! The same process will soon begin for germplasm sampled in QLD populations. Using genetic information also helps us send each partner garden a set of plants that is unrelated and genetically diverse, so these precious plants have a good chance of producing seeds, which can be collected for future research or management activities. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government. |