6. Conserving Australian Plants

Aim: To contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of Australia’s plant biodiversity.

Background

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity recognised both the opportunity and responsibility of botanic gardens to promote public awareness of the values of natural heritage and the importance of its preservation and sustainable use and management. The Gardens achieves this through horticultural displays, indoor exhibitions, education programs, cooperation with other conservation organisations, and research into Australian plants.

The Gardens established the original national flora collection, and at a current total of around 7000 species, it remains the most comprehensive display in existence of living Australian plants. This includes some 367 rare or threatened species, of which 57 are on the national endangered list. In establishing the collections and displays, horticultural techniques have been developed that are useful in ex situ cultivation, reintroduction and population rebuilding, and vegetation restoration works. The Gardens cooperates with State and Territory conservation management authorities in a number of specific regional recovery plans, such as those concerning Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides, Grevillea iaspicula, Grevillea wilkinsonii, Hakea pulvinifera and Astrotricha roddii.

Through its collaboration with the CSIRO in the CPBR, the Gardens contributes to the assembling and updating of the inventory of Australian plant biodiversity, and to the clarification of conservation biology of the flora and vegetation.

National and Regional Roles

The Gardens gives a high priority to working cooperatively with other organisations involved in plant conservation both within Australia and overseas. It played a leading role in the establishment of Botanic Gardens Conservation International by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 1987.

The Gardens promotes the concept of a nationally integrated network of plant conservation activities, particularly by hosting the national office of the Australian Network for Plant Conservation (ANPC). The integrated approach to plant conservation adopted by the ANPC draws together botanic gardens, conservation management organisations, private sector businesses and individuals committed to the conservation of rare or threatened Australian plants and plant communities.

The Gardens also contributes to a range of Commonwealth Government programs including wildlife permitting and enforcement activities, threatened species protection, and several programs within the Natural Heritage Trust, such as the National Weeds Program and Bushcare.

Policies

The Gardens will conduct public programs to raise public awareness of plant conservation issues.
Horticultural and botanical research relevant to the conservation, sustainable use and management of Australian plants will be undertaken.
The Gardens will provide a national focus for, and national and international leadership in, the conservation of plant biodiversity. In particular, it will:

contribute to a national database of rare or threatened Australian plants;
cooperate with other conservation-oriented groups in species recovery activities;
provide support for a network of Australian regional botanic gardens and kindred institutions to promote conservation and sustainable use of Australian plants; and
develop an ex situ collection of plants and seed of rare or threatened taxa for use in recovery plans and interpretive and educational programs, and as a gene bank.

Management Actions

Biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability will be strong underlying messages in education programs, indoor exhibitions and interpreted planting themes. Threatened plants will be grown and interpreted in prominent places within the Gardens and their status will be indicated where appropriate.
The Gardens will support the Australian Network for Plant Conservation and continue its involvement with Botanic Gardens Conservation International. It will cooperate with kindred organisations in staff exchange activities related to conservation.
The Gardens and the CPBR will work closely with other government agencies on programs promoting vegetation and landscape conservation, threatened species conservation, and the protection of natural ecosystems from invasive weeds, both on and off reserves.
The Gardens and the CPBR will contribute to the ongoing development of a national threatened species database, and document threatened plants in the Herbarium, the living collections and the photograph collections.
The Gardens will collect and maintain genetically significant living stocks of threatened species including variants, particularly those of the local region, and collaborate with other institutions in developing a national endangered flora collection.
Development of horticultural protocols for conservation purposes will focus on propagation and seed storage.
There will be maintenance and further development of the seed bank as a repository for rare or threatened species.
Propagation material of rare or threatened plants will be made available to regional botanic gardens and kindred organisations with a conservation focus.
Regional botanic gardens and kindred institutions will be encouraged to raise awareness of conservation issues with the loan of relevant display material and educational resources developed at the Gardens.

Updated 15 December, 2004 , webmaster, ANBG (anbg-info@anbg.gov.au)