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Four Seasons of Seed – Winter

Four Seasons of Seed – Winter

The second workshop in this series, run in collaboration with Murrumbidgee Landcare and Riverina LLS, ‘Seed germination and propagation’ was held on 30th April. Around 25 participants attended from a wide geographic range, their interests included restoration of rare and diminishing species on their own land. The next workshop will be field based to inspect a range of direct seeded restoration and revegetation sites, equipment and techniques. Anyone interested can contact ANPC Project Manager Dr Martin Driver, Jade Auldist or Sally Ware (Riverina LLS).

Saving threatened orchids from extinction

Saving threatened orchids from extinction

Since 2017 the ANPC has been working with the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV), Friends of the Grampians Gariwerd and the Australasian Native Orchid Society (Victoria Group) Inc. on two orchid conservation projects in western Victoria, to undertake surveys, collect seed, propagate seedlings, construct exclusion fencing and identify pollinators. Both projects culminated this month with the re-introduction of approximately 50 Audas Spider-orchid (Caladenia audasii) and 400 Brilliant Sun Orchid (Thelymitra mackibbinii) seedlings. Ten to 15 enthusiastic volunteers helped plant each day to supplement the low numbers of these threatened orchids in the wild. Both projects were funded by the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning through their Biodiversity On-ground Action grants.
Orchid Conservation Symposium

Orchid Conservation Symposium

On 22 and 23 June 2021 the ANPC hosted an online symposium on Orchid Conservation, which was attended by 575 registrants from across 37 countries. Eighteen speakers from Australia, the UK, South Africa, Germany and Hong Kong shared their research and experiences. Topics included orchid pollination, germination and translocation. We learned about new techniques and technologies including camera traps, as well as illegal orchid harvesting. Over one year since the 2019/20 fires, we heard about the effects of fire on orchid populations. We were treated to stunning photos of orchids across the globe including the Kimberley, where new species are still being discovered. A volunteer’s eye view was presented and encouraged people to get involved in orchid conservation in their region. The ANPC would like to say thanks to all the speakers for preparing such interesting talks, to the Australian Government’s Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Program for funding both this Symposium and the larger project it is part of and the project leads, Ryan Philips, Noushka Reiter and Dan Duval. Also, a huge thank you to the ANPC’s Project Manager Lucy Commander, for seamlessly running both days, a tremendous effort! Recordings of some talks will be made available, more details to come.

Filming at PlantBank

Filming at PlantBank

Filming has begun for a series of videos which complement the current Germplasm Guidelines review. The video production team were at PlantBank in Sydney last week conducting interviews and obtaining footage for the videos. The first video will premiere at the launch of the Germplasm Guidelines during the ASSC 2021