Jul 26, 2023 | Events Category, News
Myrtle Rust threatens an estimated 350 Australian plants, killing new growth, buds and flowers, meaning severely impacted species can no longer reproduce. Worst affected species will disappear from the wild. Myrtle Rust is having such a devastating impact on some native plants, that scientists, community groups and First Nations groups in Australia and New Zealand are working together to devise an Australasian response. In June 2023 over 100 experts from around the globe met in Sydney to share knowledge in the inaugural Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference, supported by the Australian Network for Plant Conservation.
Download the Summary of Proceedings of the Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference here [PDF link]
Attendees were buoyed by the breadth of work and dedication to preventing Myrtle Rust extinctions. They were simultaneously unanimous in the sentiment that stronger leadership, greater coordination, and long-term funding were the crucial missing elements. Priority next steps include improved sharing of resources and of research and its outcomes, and refining priority species and actions for conservation efforts to maximise the involvement of researchers, communities and land managers.
Several key themes emerged from the 50 presentations given during the conference, giving rise to potential simultaneous directions to tackle Myrtle Rust incursions and extinctions:
International guest speaker Dr Richard Sniezko from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service, presenting on developing disease resistance tree populations for restoration. Credit: Dan Turner
Oct 12, 2023 | Events Category
ANPC’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 15 November 2023, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time) in the Dickson Room, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Clunies Ross St, Acton, 2601 and via Zoom.
An email has been sent to all ANPC members with links to the draft Agenda and 2022 Minutes, along with a nomination form for the following committee positions which will be declared vacant at the meeting: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Ordinary members (6 positions). Be sure to check your spam folder if you can’t see the email.
All financial members are encouraged to attend in a voting capacity to ensure we reach a quorum, and to hear about what the ANPC has achieved over the last year. This includes individual members and representatives of organisational members. To check your membership status, please contact the office.
Please RSVP to the Secretary at by Wednesday 8 November 2023. This will greatly assist us in preparing a successful AGM. You will receive the Zoom link after you have RSVP’d.
Mar 2, 2023 | Events Category, News
| Myrtle Rust is known to infect close to 400 species of the Myrtaceae plant family in Australia, with a range of impact from minor to devastating. In the latter category is the rainforest tree Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides). However, collective action provides hope for future recovery. An upcoming webinar, jointly hosted by the Botanic Gardens Australia and New Zealand (BGANZ) Collections and Records Management group (BCARM), with speakers from the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) and the Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP), will report on two recent projects directed at saving this and other species from imminent extinction. In this webinar, you will hear from Bob Makinson and Amelia Martyn Yenson (ANPC) about the impact of Myrtle Rust on Native Guava and take the first look at our new video on the collaborative action providing hope in the face of rapid decline. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government. We’ll also hear from Bradley Desmond (Acting National Coordinator, ASBP) about an inventory of priority Myrtaceae species held in ex situ collections across Australia and New Zealand. The Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens (CHABG) and BGANZ undertook the first country-wide stocktake of Myrtaceae insurance populations, to understand the ex-situ representation of this Myrtle Rust affected family, and inform strategic planning, management and research.
Click here to join the meeting at 1pm on Wednesday 29th March. |
May 5, 2022 | Events Category, News
Online Symposium – 21 & 28 July 2022
On Thursdays 21 and 28 July 2022 we held our Victorian Translocation Symposium over Zoom. It included presentations from experts and experienced practitioners in plant translocations and was based on the ANPC’s Guidelines for the Translocation of Threatened Plants in Australia.Thanks to the support from the Ross Trust this event was free for everyone to attend.
Please download the full program here. We look forward to seeing you online. The recordings from this symposium are available on our YouTube channel here.
May 5, 2022 | Events Category, News
The latest webinar in our series ‘Plant treasures – in conversation’ was held on Thursday 12 May 2022. This special extended webinar focused on ‘The role of the nursery and living collections in conserving native plant species’ while highlighting current practice and future needs. You can watch the recording on our YouTube channel here.
The webinar was opened by the Germplasm Guidelines project manager, Amelia Martyn Yenson. John Arnott (Curator of horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and BGANZ Council Representative for Victoria) then gave a theme introduction before the following presentations and videos:
- VIDEO: The role of the plant nursery and living collections in ex situ conservation (John Arnott & Warren Worboys)
- Overview of the Germplasm Guidelines (Dr Amelia Martyn Yenson)
- VIDEO: Cutting propagation in the conservation nursery (Mandy Thomson)
- Trials, Tribulations & Triumphs in Managing a Botanic Gardens Seed Orchard (Lorraine Perrins)
- The role of the ANBG nursery and living collections in plant conservation (Dr Zoe Knapp)
- VIDEO: Collection, processing and storage of fern spores (Tom North)
- Biosecurity considerations in living collections (Amanda Shade)
- What we can learn from conservation of crop wild relatives? (Dr Sally Norton)
- VIDEO: Using ex situ collections of Australian native species: Translocation and other end uses (Dr Emma Dalziell, Dr Leonie Monks and Dr Andrew Crawford)
The webinar was concluded with a panel discussion facilitated by Michael Elgey (Curator Manager, The Australian Botanic garden mount Annan and BGANZ Council Representative for NSW).
This series is a collaborative project between the ANPC and BGANZ Collections and Records Management Group and is funded by a grant from The Ian Potter Foundation.
Oct 29, 2021 | Events Category
The 13th Australasian Plant Conservation Conference is to be held in Albury, NSW from Sunday 3 – Thursday 7 April 2022. This is the premier event in Australia to discuss native plant conservation issues. The overall theme is ‘Seeds to recovery’. The call for abstracts is currently open. We are seeking abstracts for both presentations and posters which fit within one of the 4 sub-themes:
- Seeds
- Bushfire recovery
- Conservation/threatened species and communities
- Engaging people with conservation & restoration
We are also seeking abstracts for shorter presentations (5 – 10mins TBC) on three workshop topics.Please visit our conference website to download the submission form. Abstract submission closes 4 February 2022.
