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Welcome to the December 2014 edition of ANPC News. Firstly, we would like to apologise for the lack of newsletters recently which has been due to staff changes and, as you can see, the development of a new newsletter format. We hope you enjoy the new look! And secondly, it's ANPC membership renewal time, so if your membership runs out this year, you should receive an email shortly, if you haven't already, with your personalised renewal form for 2015. If you could return it to us as soon as you can it would be greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas to you all!
From the ANPC Team.
ANPC activities and news:
10th Australasian Plant Conservation Conference (APCC10)
Our biennial conference was held in Hobart from the 11th - 14th November 2014 and included a fascinating variety of guest speakers, an innovative technology practical session, three exciting field trips and some 'behind the scenes' tours of the Royal Tasmanian Botanic Gardens. Overall the quality of the presentations was excellent with a number of the invited speakers highlighting the importance of developing and expanding our communication skills in promoting biodiversity issues with the broader public. Risk taking and “thinking outside the box” were also emphasised by a number of the speakers. Adapting to a rapidly changing world in terms of managing plant diversity is going to require effective, quick and strategic thinking with a certain amount of risk taking where we don’t have all the answers. A more detailed conference summary will appear on our website soon and many of the presentations will be published in the next two editions of Australasian Plant Conservation. A big thank you to all the hardworking staff and volunteers at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, as well as all our sponsors, without whom the conference would not have been possible.
Professor Ian Lunt from Charles Sturt University giving the APCC10 Keynote Address (RTBG). For more photos, go to our Facebook page.
Orchid Conservation Program
And another big thank you to everyone who donated to our recent crowdfunding campaign to help save South East Australia’s unique and threatened orchids. We raised an amazing $43,267! And some additional grant funds will arrive soon. These funds will be used to pay for the ‘fit out’ of a new conservation laboratory which has been installed at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to propagate and grow threatened orchids for reintroduction projects. The Orchid Conservation Program is currently the only means by which these orchid species can be propagated in sufficient numbers to significantly reduce the threat of them becoming extinct in the wild. The ANPC is about to partner with the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to continue this project into the future.
Caladenia audasii (McIvor Spider-orchid), one of the threatened orchids being propagated by the Orchid Conservation Program. (J. Whitfield)
New Myrtle Rust information hub now available on the ANPC website.
This information hub has been developed by the ANPC to significantly contribute to Myrtle Rust response capabilities here in Australia and overseas. Two elements are new and unique: 1/ consolidated Australian and global host lists which have not been published elsewhere. Updates of these host lists are anticipated to occur on a 3- to 6-monthly basis. 2/ a comprehensive global bibliography of literature on Myrtle Rust, which is a world first!
Myrtle Rust infection on Eucalyptus tindaliae on the NSW North Coast. (P. Entwisle)
ANPC Annual General Meeting held Wednesday 12 November
Three new ANPC management committee members were formally voted in at the meeting - Bob Makinson, Natalie Tapson and Helena Mills. And read all about what the ANPC has achieved over the last year in the President's report delivered at the AGM by Dr David Coates.
ANPC AGM 2014 held at the APCC10 conference (J. Lynch)
Other items of interest:
Call for Applications for Research Grants from the Australian Flora Foundation.
These grants are for research into the biology and cultivation of the Australian Flora. The Foundation expects to support between two and four projects at $5000 - $15,000 each per year in 2016 with possible extension into 2017. Preliminary applications (2 A4 pages) will be accepted until 16th March 2015. Short listed applicants will be asked to submit a full application. Further details, information about the Foundation, and examples of grants awarded and their outcomes can be found here.
Val Williams Scholarship in Botany 2015
The North Shore Group, Australian Plants Society NSW in 2015 will continue to pursue its objective of providing financial support for scientific research in botany. Their inaugural scholarship was awarded in 2009 at $2,000 and will be maintained at $2,000 for their Seventh Round in 2015. The Scholarship honours the memory of the late Val Williams, an esteemed Australian Plants Society North Shore Group member and APS NSW President and student of botany and conservation. Applications are being sought from students undertaking scientific research at the Honours, Masters or PhD levels. Conditions apply but the first criterion is that the research will contribute to the knowledge, conservation or propagation of native plants in the Sydney or surrounding regions. Applications will close on 13th March 2015 and the successful applicant will be notified by 14th April 2015. The application forms are available here.
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