Queensland’s unique native plants are under threat — and you can help save them.

Donate today to support urgent flora surveys to protect Queensland’s botanical heritage for future generations.

Click here to donate today to help us save Queensland’s native plants!

Queensland has the highest biodiversity in Australia with over 14,000 species of native plants and allied species, of which more than one-third are endemic. Of all Queensland’s threatened species, over 1000 (77%) are plants! Many of these plants are poorly known and under-surveyed. Without baseline data on population size and trajectory, it is very difficult to develop and implement recovery plans and actions.

Attendees at the Mackay Flora Survey Training workshop in early March 2025 – Photo: Paul Donatiu

There is an urgent need to empower community-based volunteer groups and citizen scientists in Queensland to undertake targeted flora surveys and fill key gaps in our knowledge of threatened plant species.

Over the last 12 months, the ANPC’s Queensland Threatened Plant Network (QTPN) Project Manager Paul Donatiu has coordinated 10 Flora Survey Training Workshops to help volunteer groups build their capacity to conduct such strategic and highly valuable population surveys of rare flora, using Queensland Herbarium-endorsed flora survey techniques. These workshops have proved very popular and are increasing in demand. We urgently need more funding to roll out more workshops across the state.

Real life flora surveys are a core component of these practical workshops and are already having valuable results. At one recent Flora Survey Training Workshop, participants found 331 individuals of the Critically Endangered Zieria exsul where only 194 were known. After another workshop, an attendee found a new population of more than 20 plants of the vulnerable mint-bush Prostanthera spathulata on her private property (see quote below).

We are also working on an iNaturalist citizen science project which will add value to listed threatened plant observations by encouraging observers to add fields relevant to conservation assessment.

Your gift will help us deliver more Flora Survey Training Workshops for community-based environmental groups. This will ultimately assist in the long-term planning, implementation and monitoring of recovery actions for threatened plant species in Queensland. Trained community members will be equipped to:

• survey poorly known plant species (especially those critically endangered and endangered).
• record new threatened species populations (especially on recently acquired protected areas, many of which are under-surveyed).
• provide information on plant populations that can be used to improve/refine actions in Recovery Action Plans.

Recent QTPN workshop participant: “Your presentation and notes recently on endangered botanical species were just the fodder for me. I have been scouting Mt. Tinbeerwah for nearly 30 years and I printed out info thanks to the useful web connections you supplied at the workshop. Yesterday, three of us found Prostanthera spathulata in flower. Today I went back and counted over 20 plants in flower. I was and am so excited and thank you for your inspiration. I shall be on the lookout on my continued exploration of this wonderful mountain. I just want to say the work you do is extremely important and is an amazing contribution to the preservation of the botanical world, so thank you.”

Paul Donatiu and others dedicated to Queensland’s native plants have shown what can be achieved in boosting our knowledge of threatened species. With your support, we can scale up these vital conservation efforts today.

Help protect Queensland’s native plants — your support will make a real difference! Whether it’s $50, $100, or a major gift of *$5,000, every donation helps safeguard our unique flora for future generations.

Your contribution will power vital conservation work, and donations of $2 or more to the ANPC are tax deductible.

*Organisations donating $5,000 or more will be proudly recognised as workshop sponsors, with their logo featured across our promotions, showcasing their leadership in supporting Queensland’s native plant conservation. 

See what the QTPN was able to achieve in 2024 below: