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11th Australasian Plant Conservation Conference (APCC11) - Early bird rate closes 26 August!
Paul Gibson-Roy from Greening Australia will be one of the Plenary Speakers at APCC11. He will be reporting on his recent US tour investigating native seed production and prairie restoration under a Churchill Fellowship grant. A lack of native seed is known to be a major obstacle to restoration in Australia. Hear about the US experience, including the systems used by native seed growers to procure, grow and process native seed at large scales and quantities, and of the huge restoration outcomes made possible by this established seed supply chain. Paul will also discuss the market drivers, which together make possible a seed production and restoration industry that far exceeds that which currently exists in Australia. In many cases, the outcomes are nothing short of extraordinary. Go to the conference homepage.
Native wildflowers growing alongside a Texas roadside. (Photo: Paul Gibson-Roy)
Plant Identification Workshops in Western NSW, 28 August - 1 September 2016
Landholders and interested community group members in the Broken Hill, White Cliffs and Bourke areas are invited to attend one of four workshops being held to assist in plant identification, with support from Western Local Land Services. The workshops, to be presented by ANPC Project Manager Martin Driver, will include information about the benefits of retaining native plants on your property, how to identify native plants, and how to manage native plants to benefit productivity. The workshops are also an opportunity to exchange information and ideas with other landholders on balancing production and sustainability on your farm. They will be in the form of ‘paddock walks’ to allow participants to experience hands-on plant identification in the field. All workshops start at 10am. RSVP: Monday 15 August 2016. Read more.
ANPC Paddock Walk in the Riverina LLS region in October 2015. (Photo: Sally Ware)
Sandhill Paddock Walk at Booroorban, south of Hay, NSW - report
With support from Riverina Local Land Services, a third ANPC Paddock Walk was held in early June visiting endangered Riverine White Cypress Pine Sandhill vegetation communities around Booroorban, near Hay in south west NSW, at local properties “Zara” and “Elmsleigh”. The abundance of species was breathtaking with many at the point of flowering and/or setting fruit following the recent rain. The final stop was to a fenced native Quondong plantation at “BurraBuroon”. The next Paddock Walk will take place in early Spring with a return to “Zara” to observe fruiting and seeding sandhill species. Read more.
ANPC Project Manager, Martin Driver (left), speaking at "Zara" on the Sandhill Paddock Walk at Booroorban on 1 June 2016. (Photo: Annabel Lugsdin)
Saving the federally listed Metallic Sun-orchid and Wimmera Spider-orchid from weed invasion
The Metallic Sun-orchid (Thelymitra epipactoides) and Wimmera Spider-orchid (Caladenia lowanensis) are two of Australia's most endangered plants. The ANPC and Parks Victoria Little Desert Region have recently collaborated under a Victorian Government Communities for Nature grant to undertake weed control over two years within a reserve near Nhill in western Victoria, to support the National Recovery Plans for both species by treating the introduced weed Perennial Veldt Grass (Ehrharta calycina). Read more.
The endangered Wimmera Spider-orchid (Caladenia lowanensis). (Photo: Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria)
Conservation of the endangered Melblom’s Spider-orchid (Caladenia hastata)
The aim of this project, funded by Portland Aluminium, is to increase the long term viability of the Melblom’s Spider-orchid (Caladenia hastata) by re-introducing this species into three sites in the far south west of Victoria. The long term aim of this project is to reduce the species from Federally Endangered to Federally Vulnerable under the EPBC Act (1999). Over the 2015-16 financial year, seed and mycorrhiza have been collected and 200 plants propagated which are currently housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Orchid Conservation Laboratory in partnership with the ANPC. Three hundred and twenty one plants were re-introduced. The re-introductions to date have been highly successful with an 80% survival rate. Read more.
Melblom’s Spider-orchid (Caladenia hastata) which is endangered at the National and State Level (Photo: Len Carrigan)
Other conferences and events:
2016 Habitat Conservation and Management Course, La Trobe Uni, Melbourne, 9 August - 22 November 2016
Tuesday evenings - 6:30pm-9:30pm and 8 Saturday field trips – approx. 10:00am-4:00pm. This sixteen week course run by Greening Australia teaches land management practices that seek to conserve, protect and restore indigenous Australian flora and fauna. The course provides and discusses the best planning tools and management techniques available, whilst covering topics such as plant identification, bush ecology, weed control, soils and climate, invertebrates, the use of fire, site assessment and planning, and many more. Suited to beginners and the experienced alike, this course has been successfully informing and networking conservationists for over thirty years. Places are limited. Click here for more information and to enroll.
CBA Annual Conference: The Interface of Evolutionary Biology and Policy Impact - ANU, Canberra, 6 & 7 September 2016
A two-way engagement workshop for researchers, policy makers and manage, coordinated by the ANU's Centre for Biodiversity Analysis (CBA). Innovative capabilities in biodiversity science are rapidly emerging at the boundaries of evolutionary biology, genomics and spatial ecology. These new concepts and tools have been heralded as having considerable potential to assist with many of the complex issues confronting policy and management such as climate change and adaptation; conservation planning; habitat fragmentation and restoration; invasive species and biosecurity; and threatened species. Click here for more information.
News:
Environmental Weeds of Sydney Region App - a free handy field guide for your mobile phone
For those who are tech savvy and carry a smart phone with them, there is a new app to help you identify weeds! This app will help you identify some of the common environmental weeds found in the Sydney region. It includes more than fifty weed species. Colour photographs and detailed identification notes help you identify a plant. Native look-a-likes likely to be found in the region are also included. Recommended control methods are described. A great resource for bushcare volunteers, gardeners, bush regenerators, landscapers, farmers, horticultural students and land managers. Google Play for Android phones and tablets. iTunes App Store for iPhones and iPads.
Hollows as Homes
A new national program to register tree hollows and the wildlife using them was launched in March 2016 and is coordinated by the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, University of Sydney, and Australian Museum. With the help of the community, this program aims to assess the availability of tree hollows and their use by wildlife across Australia. The Hollows as Homes team wants you to report tree hollows in your backyard, street, park, the bush and/or paddock on the official website. In addition to reporting ‘your’ hollows you can form groups to collectively report hollows and wildlife sightings at larger sites e.g. schools, parks, bush regeneration or landcare sites. Participants will take measurements of the hollow-bearing tree and periodically conduct monitoring and report the wildlife using this important habitat. Training is available through workshops and the website. Although primarily fauna-focussed, the information gathered will clearly also be useful for native tree conservation in urban and agricultural landscapes, and for strengthening the case for protection of some woodland and forest patches. The ANPC encourages everyone to sign up and send in data, and to make the program known through your own networks. For more information contact this email.
And Happy National Tree Day!
The ANPC gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Corporate Members:
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