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Webinar: Collective action provides hope for future recovery from Myrtle Rust

Webinar: Collective action provides hope for future recovery from Myrtle Rust

Apr 3, 2023 | News

1 – 2:30 pm AEDT Wednesday 29 March 2023

Held on Teams, Click here to join the meeting at 1pm AEDT on Wednesday 29 March 2023

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.

Webinar: Collective action provides hope for future recovery from Myrtle Rust

Webinar: Collective action provides hope for future recovery from Myrtle Rust

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.

Native Guava Project – Propagation

Native Guava Project – Propagation

Jan 31, 2023 | News

While seed is the easiest and most efficient form of germplasm to store, species such as Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides) are undergoing such significant decline due to Myrtle Rust that they no longer produce viable seeds for collection. Other species have seeds that are not suited to storage under conventional seedbanking conditions. For these species, cutting propagation is a way of capturing genetic diversity and establishing ex situ collections that provide a measure of insurance against extinction.

Our partners at the Department of Agriculture and Forestry (QLD) and the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan (NSW) are establishing new ex situ collections from wild-collected germplasm. These collections provide a source of future propagation material, an accessible collection for research and a way of distributing germplasm across partner organisations as a further measure to establish the species in safe custody.

This project received grant funding from the Australian Government.

Images below:(top) Cutting propagation of Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides) at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan. Credit: Amelia Martyn Yenson.

Native Guava Video Filming

Native Guava Video Filming

Jan 9, 2023 | News

Filming continued for our ‘Safe Custody for Native Guava’ project when our production team visited The Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan recently. Peek behind the scenes as they filmed Veronica Viler preparing cuttings in the nursery, Stephanie Chen in the DNA extraction lab and the living collection of Native Guava at the ABGMA nursery. We look forward to sharing the video in early 2023! This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government. Image by Amelia Martyn Yenson
Film Release: Myrtle Rust – the silent killer

Film Release: Myrtle Rust – the silent killer

Nov 25, 2022 | News

A new film released this month shares first-hand stories on myrtle rust from indigenous rangers, scientists and landowners. Learn how our precious species and landscapes are under threat and the conservation actions we can take to save them. Watch it here.

This film was a collaborative project led by Queensland Agriculture with support from the Australian Network for Plant Conservation, San Diego Zoo, NSW Government, Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation, and the Plant Biosecurity Science Foundation.