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
| 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. |
Our collaborative project to secure safe custody for the Critically Endangered Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides) is underway. Project partners at Lismore Rainforest Botanic Garden, the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah, the Australian National Botanic Garden and Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden are preparing to receive their first plants this spring. At each location, these plants will be established in the ground and monitored carefully for growth, fruiting and any signs of Myrtle Rust infection. Propagation has begun at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan for the next round of plants to be distributed later in the project, as a joint project of the Science and Horticulture teams. Ex situ conservation is needed to ensure this species will survive while long-term recovery options are pursued.
Image by Nathan Emery. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government.
The ANPC has partnered with five botanic gardens and the NSW and QLD governments to provide safe custody for the Critically Endangered Native Guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides). This species was not threatened before Myrtle Rust was introduced in 2010 but has since suffered significant declines. This project will provide a coordinated national response to the conservation of this species through germplasm collection, providing resources for maintaining potted collections in conservation nurseries, creating a living collection at botanic gardens in three states and raising awareness through a short video. This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government.
For more information on this project and our partners head to our project webpage.