Oct 17, 2025 | Events Category
Session 6 of the Myrtle Rust management for practitioners – open series will be on:
“National Plant Biosecurity and Sustainable Plant Production”
The presenter will be John McDonald, who is the Director of RDE & Biosecurity at Greenlife Industry Australia. He will present on the national plant biosecurity system and response management, including:
Responding to an emergency plant pest incursion
Pesticide Minor Use Permits (MUPs)
– What are MUPs
– How to apply for a MUP
Nursery Production Sustainability
– Best Management Practice
– Environmental & Natural Resource Management
– Plant Protection and Biosecurity
Date
Thursday 13 November 2025 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (AEDT)
Location
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
Register here (via Trybooking)
Aug 15, 2025 | Events Category
The conference program including speaker abstracts is available here.
The Australian Government commissioned a report summarising the Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference 2025 proceedings to provide an overview of the current state of Myrtle Rust for the Australasian region as discussed during the conference.
Download the Conference Report here.
Conference presentation recordings are now available on the ANPC Youtube channel:
Many of Australasia’s best-known and most highly valued native trees – from Australia’s eucalypts to Aotearoa New Zealand’s pōhutukawa – are in the family Myrtaceae. Many species in this family urgently need protection from Myrtle Rust, a disease caused by the globally dispersed pathogen Austropuccinia psidii.
Collaborative research efforts have improved our understanding of our myrtles, the pathogen, and plant/pathogen interactions. Management tools have been developed and deployed, and communities are rapidly mobilising to protect and conserve native plants.
Researchers and community members from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand came together with an exciting line-up of talks on 16 and 17 June 2025, to share knowledge and celebrate our mighty myrtles and the progress made towards protecting them. The Australian Government commissioned the above report of the proceedings. Read the report for an overview of the current state of Myrtle Rust for the Australasian region, as discussed during the conference, and to learn about the latest research and management approaches.
The conference themes were:
- Community-led action
- New technologies, solutions, and research insights
– Part 1: Tools and fungal genetics
– Part 2: Environmental and microbial insights - Species conservation
- Early career initiatives and research
Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference 2025 presenters and in-person attendees. Credit: Jenny Leonard.
A huge thanks to our sponsors!
Online/virtual attendance was free thanks to support from our wonderful sponsors. Our sponsors were also exceptional facilitators of inclusion. By covering overhead costs and sponsoring bursaries, they allowed the organising committee to focus on what matters: ensuring that a broad range of voices from many backgrounds and regions were present and engaged with the conference.
Our hosts
Our hosts provided unquantifiable services that allowed us to cut costs significantly and focus on what matters.
Platinum sponsors
Provided travel and accommodation bursaries for students, mana whenua, and First Nations Australians.
Gold sponsor
Auckland Council provided conference support and enabled local community and mana whenua attendance.
Bronze sponsors – thanks for your support!
The Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference Committee would like to acknowledge and thank Jenny Leonard for her enormous contribution in ensuring a successful event, and for writing the AMRC2025 report.
May 30, 2025 | Events Category, News
APCC15 has been announced – Mark those calendars and follow us for updates!
We’re excited to announce that our 15th Australasian Plant Conservation Conference (APCC15) will be held in Port Douglas, Queensland during the week of 24-28 August next year! In the spectacular Wet Tropics, we will be within touching distance of the stunning world heritage listed Daintree Rainforest and in a town with abundant accommodation and dining options. Keep an ear out and follow us on Facebook or bookmark our conference webpage for conference updates as they come.
Apr 17, 2025 | Events Category
Session 5 will be on “Getting a Myrtle Rust conservation program going – the practicalities“
The presenter will be Brandan Espe of James Cook University.
Brandan will present on how TropEco at JCU established its Myrtle Rust conservation program. The focus will be around the tools and steps required to get such a program off the ground, and the challenges of ensuring ongoing success.
Brandon curates the JCU living collections and manages the TropEco program, with the Townsville campus alone being over 380Ha, having over 1300 taxa and well over triple the accessions recorded to date and growing. He manages the Grounds and Environment teams who care for the gardens, natural ecosystems, nurseries and wildlife. He oversees plant selection and landscape designs for capital and operational works across the University as well as botanic conservation and educational engagement. He started the JCU TropEco Myrtle Rust conservation program in his former role as Environmental Officer.
Date
Thursday 24 April 2025
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM (AEST)
Register here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1385840
Feature Image: Kunzea truncata – Endangered (NCA), Credit: Brandan Espe
Mar 28, 2025 | Events Category
Many of Australasia’s best-known and most highly valued native trees – from Australia’s eucalypts to New Zealand’s pōhutukawa – are in the family Myrtaceae. Many species in this family urgently need protection from myrtle rust, a disease caused by the globally dispersed pathogen Austropuccinia psidii.
This event, held at an intimate venue at the University of Auckland, will feature guest speakers from Australia and New Zealand. In-person attendance will be limited primarily to presenters, but all talks will be livestreamed to an expansive virtual audience.
“From knowledge to impact” is the theme of this year’s conference. Work is still underway to finalise conference registration details, but meanwhile you can find out more on the website and join the mailing list here.
The organisers are currently seeking sponsorship for the conference. The priority is to facilitate the attendance of Māori, community and student delegates. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Jenny Leonard (leonardj@landcareresearch.co.nz). Download the sponsorship package here.
Feb 28, 2025 | Events Category
In February 2025 we had a great couple of days welcoming our management committee and interstate staff to Canberra to attend an in-person strategic planning workshop at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. As a collective, we made a lot of progress on our strategic focus and organisational aims for the next 5 and 10 years.
We had some lively and creative discussions primarily centred around:
- Engagement – how we can be influential and catalyse support for plant conservation in Australia.
- Knowledge – how to further our facilitation of knowledge exchange and further develop best practice guidelines.
- Longevity – how we can increase awareness and income to drive project delivery and organisational sustainability.
At the workshop, we finalised the following:
Who we are
We are the national network of people, research and action for plant conservation.
Our Vision is to secure Australia’s rich native plant diversity.
Our Mission is to promote and develop plant conservation in Australia.
Our Strategic Pillars
Engagement
Knowledge generation and exchange
Longevity and sustainability
Our Values
We develop, synthesise and collaborate
We facilitate collaborations to create plant conservation action. We work inclusively with members, scientists and conservation organisations. We are innovators and adaptable to change.
We act with integrity
We are a trusted source of plant conservation knowledge exchange. We are non-partisan. We’re accountable and transparent about our actions.
We are custodians for the future
We deliver positive action for plant conservation that will endure for future generations.
A big thanks to our fantastic workshop facilitator Mia, who can be found at: https://www.miaswainson.com.au/
Feel free to get in touch with us anytime if you have ideas for projects and future directions for the organisation.
