The next session will be held on Thursday 5 December 2024.

Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time (AEDT).

Presenters: Emma Simpkins (Senior Regional Advisor Flora) and Rebekah Fuller (Senior Plant Pathogens Advisor) from Auckland Council.

Title: ‘Local government enabling community-led recovery of Myrtle Rust impacted species’.

Emma and Rebekah will discuss the actions implemented by local government to support threatened Myrtaceae in Auckland, primarily by engaging community to build capacity to support species and ecosystem recovery.

Their conservation actions include funding mana whenua (indigenous people) and community groups to lead monitoring of Lophomyrtus obcordata (rōhutu) and Syzygium maire (maire tawake) populations and carry out fungicide treatments in order to collect seed for propagation, establishing ex situ collections of threatened species including rōhutu and rātā moehau (Metrosideros bartlettii), creating awareness of Myrtle Rust through workshops and training, and advocating for nursery suppliers to have a nursery biosecurity accreditation (Plant Pass) to ensure healthy plants are used in restoration.

Auckland local government manage threatened species in the wild through regionally prioritised sites to ensure long term survival of species. Restoration of ecosystems is another important conservation activity and Myrtaceae are one of the key components of our planting palettes. The advice we provide for planting lists and biosecurity ensures our community are following best practice.

REGISTER HERE!

Image: Pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa). Credit: Emma Simpkins

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There is a need for horticulturists and practitioners managing Myrtle Rust susceptible collections to collaborate, share ideas and workshop problems.

To address this the ANPC, UNSW and the BGANZ Collections and Records Management group (BCARM) are collaborating to co-ordinate a quarterly series of free, informal virtual get togethers.

This series is exclusively focused on practical aspects of managing and maintaining a conservation collection of Myrtle Rust susceptible species and has an open forum structure. It is open to any practitioners across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand managing collections impacted by Myrtle Rust including local council nurseries.

The first session on 22 February 2024 focused on “Fundamentals of managing a Myrtle Rust sensitive collection“. You can view Bob Makinson’s introductory talk about Myrtle Rust in Australia and Veronica Viler’s talk on managing Myrtle Rust sensitive collections below.

The second session on 16 May 2024 was about “Pest and Disease Control – Chemical Use and Permits” where Veronica presented on ‘Chemical and Cultural methods of Myrtle Rust Management’ which is also available below.

The third session on 29 August 2024 was on “Monitoring and Collecting from Wild Populations of Myrtle Rust Susceptible Species“. Craig Stehn from NSW DCCEEW shared his experience in surveying, monitoring and collecting from wild populations of Myrtle Rust impacted species. Craig’s talk is also available to view below.

For more information about Myrtle Rust visit the dedicated ANPC resource page.

We hope you can get involved!

First session presentations

Second session presentation