The Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia launched Edition 2.2 of the National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in Australia. This document, in which the ANPC is a proud partner, is a must read for anyone involved in restoring Australia’s terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. To watch a recording of the launch or download the National Standards head to their website.
The project team has finalised a summary of the Healthy Seeds Roadmap – A strategic plan to improve native seed supply for ecological restoration in NSW – and are working towards completion of the full report. The consultation process will commence shortly, stay tuned for details.
The first video and podcast from the Australian Network for Plant Conservation’s Plants Going Places project, funded by the Ross Trust and the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub, are now available. The video features the Spiny Rice-flower (Pimelea spinescens subsp. spinescens), learning from mitigation translocations, What happens when a threatened plant is growing in an intended development location? Often under Australian legislation, impacts can be ‘offset’ and the plant translocated. Moved, salvaged, re-grown in pots and planted elsewhere. But does that really work?! The Spiny Rice-flower is arguably Australia’s most salvaged plant and has a few valuable lessons to teach – about ecology, collaboration and open accessibility of knowledge. Over 23 years the team has worked to improve success rates and sharing of outcomes that were once held as ‘client in confidence’, so that everyone involved in translocation has an opportunity to learn what has and has not worked.
Image: Debbie Reynolds from Trust for Nature being interviewed for Spiny Rice-flower video. (Photo credit M. Lawrence-Taylor)
The second edition of the Florabank Guidelines – best practice guidelines for native seed collection and use are now online and are available to download for free from the Florabank website. The Florabank Guidelines are essential reading for anyone that works with native seed in any capacity from research to restoration, planting to policy and everything in between. This includes bush regeneration, tree planting, mine rehabilitation and landcare.
The Guidelines contain 15 modules which follow the native seed supply chain from collection, through processing to propagation and planting. To better support the whole of the seed supply chain, this update includes additional information on working with Indigenous Australians, approvals, record keeping, and tips for seed purchasers. ANPC Project Manager, Dr Lucy Commander, would like to thank the team of over 40 national and international collaborators who generously provided their time and expertise to update the Guidelines, and also those who reviewed the content.
This revision was part of the Healthy Seeds Project funded by the NSW Environmental Trust and managed by the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC) Inc. The Florabank Consortium includes ANPC, Australian National Botanic Gardens, CSIRO and Greening Australia.
The ANPC has been working with the Australian Seed Bank Partnership (ASBP) on its project ‘Banking on seeds for bushfire recovery.’ The project aims to limit the decline of 25 Australian plant species from areas affected by the 2019-2020 bushfires. This project included extensive activities in seed collection, reintroductions and germination trials. The ANPC prepared various communication materials to share the findings of this project. You can download the plant slideshow and the six fact sheets on species that were part of the project here.
The ANPC are very excited to announce the upcoming launch of the third edition of ‘Plant Germplasm Conservation in Australia – strategies and guidelines for developing, managing and utilising ex situ collections’ (also known as the Germplasm Guidelines) edited by ANPC Project Manager Dr Amelia Martyn Yenson. The launch will be held on Tuesday 7 September during the online Australasian Seed Science Conference. Join the launch to discover why this best-practice handbook is so important for plant conservation in Australia, what new content has been added, and how you can use the Guidelines in your work.
We also warmly invite everyone to the Australian Academy of Science Fenner Conference on the Environment: Exceptional times, exceptional plants. The conference will include presentations and a panel session on identifying and conserving non-orthodox species. It will also provide an opportunity to strengthen partnerships and interact with experts online. This event will be held on Thursday 9 September 2021 and is free to join, even if you are not attending the Australasian Seed Science Conference. Register now here.